Breakwater (SW 9638)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Breakwater (SW 9638) is a deep, neutral gray from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 38, so it reflects about 38 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Breakwater
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Breakwater by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper gray, 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 Breakwater, 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 | Adagio | 1593 | 39.2 | 1.3 | very close |
| Behr | Silent Film | MQ5-30 | 37 | 1.4 | very close |
| Valspar | Hazy Stratus | 4004-1C | 38 | 3.1 | noticeably different |
| PPG Paints | Stepping Stone | 1010-4 | 38 | 1.4 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams gray colors nearest to Breakwater (LRV 38) by LRV.
Lighter than Breakwater
Darker than Breakwater
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9638 |
| Hex | #A2A8A6 |
| RGB | 162, 168, 166 |
| HSL | 160°, 3%, 65% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 38 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 68.3, -2.5, 0.3 |
| Undertone | Neutral |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Breakwater (SW 9638), published as #A2A8A6
#919EA4
#B4B2A6
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Breakwater (SW 9638)?
- Breakwater has an LRV of 38. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Breakwater is a deep color.
- What is the closest match to Breakwater in another brand?
- Adagio (BM 1593) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.3 (very close).
- Is Breakwater warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Breakwater as neutral, with a Neutral undertone. Its Lab b* value is 0.3; 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.