Gentle Aquamarine (SW 9046)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Gentle Aquamarine (SW 9046) is a medium, cool blue from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 54, so it reflects about 54 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Gentle Aquamarine
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Gentle Aquamarine by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper blue, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Sherwin-Williams did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Gentle Aquamarine, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Blue Rapids | 745 | 52.5 | 1.5 | very close |
| Behr | Velvet Morning | 520E-3 | 50.3 | 2.0 | very close |
| Valspar | Crystal Sea | 5004-7B | 57 | 1.8 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Idyllic Isle | 1235-4 | 52 | 1.5 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams blue colors nearest to Gentle Aquamarine (LRV 54) by LRV.
Lighter than Gentle Aquamarine
Darker than Gentle Aquamarine
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9046 |
| Hex | #97CBD2 |
| RGB | 151, 203, 210 |
| HSL | 187°, 40%, 71% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 54 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 78.4, -15.2, -8.9 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | cool |
| Color family | Blue |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Gentle Aquamarine (SW 9046), published as #97CBD2
#82C1D0
#ACD5D2
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Gentle Aquamarine (SW 9046)?
- Gentle Aquamarine has an LRV of 54. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Gentle Aquamarine is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Gentle Aquamarine in another brand?
- Idyllic Isle (PPG 1235-4) from PPG Paints, at a deltaE of 1.5 (very close).
- Is Gentle Aquamarine warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Gentle Aquamarine as cool, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -8.9; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.