Pearl Gray
Retired1999-2001 · Color No. 118
Introducing Pearl Gray, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 1999 to 2001. It's a subtle and sophisticated shade of gray with hints of pearl-like shimmer, reminiscent of soft moonlight on a cloudy night. Pearl Gray adds a touch of elegance and refinement to any tablescape. Mix and match Pearl Gray with colors like White and Turquoise for a classic and timeless table setting, or pair it with Plum and Slate for a contemporary and chic combination.
Production
Pearl Gray was retired in 2001, so it is a hunt for secondhand pieces now. Fiesta Factory Direct is where the colors still being made are, if you are filling a set.
Shop Fiesta Factory Direct (opens in a new tab)Notes on Pearl Gray
Pearl Gray ran two years, 1999 to 2001, and it's the most genuinely neutral color Fiesta has ever made - almost no color in it at all, just a cool, soft gray. That short run makes it scarce, and its quietness makes it easy to overlook in a listing photo, where it can pass for White in poor light. It replaced Chartreuse on the shelf when it arrived. If you like the idea of it, vintage Gray is the closest relative, and the two sit only a few ΔE apart - near enough to mix, far enough to notice.
Using Pearl Gray on a table
Pearl Gray carries almost no color of its own, so it is the layer everything else sits on. Build the table out of it and add one loud piece. At L* 82 it is one of the paler glazes in the line: dark food reads sharply against it, pale food much less so. It nearly disappears against a white cloth (1.6:1), so it shows best on dark wood or a colored runner.
Below, 5 combinations built only from colors Fiesta has actually produced. Each says which rule it follows, and which pieces you can still buy today.
The pairing in its own description
Named in the descriptionThese colors are named alongside Pearl Gray in this guide's description of it.
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Your color Pearl Gray
- Turquoise, 1937-1969
- Plum
- Slate
Buy these to go with it
Pearl Gray was retired in 2001, but these are all in production now - the set you can actually finish buying.
A ground for bright colors
Pearl Gray carries almost no hue of its own, which makes it the ground the rest of the table sits on. These are the boldest colors in the palette, spread right around the wheel - the mix-and-match look Fiesta was designed for.
Anchored in neutrals
Pearl Gray is close to neutral, so it works as the quiet ground under a louder color.
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Your color Pearl Gray
- Lapis
- Forest Green
- Chocolate
Nothing but neutrals
Every color here is a white, gray or black, stepped from lightest to darkest. No hue anywhere, so the shapes and the food do the work.
Where Pearl Gray sits in the line
Pearl Gray arrived while White was still in production, and is noticeably darker than it - a clearly different glaze rather than a reformulation (ΔE 11.2). It lasted 2 years where the median for its era is 7, which is why it turns up so rarely. In 1999 it took the place of Chartreuse, 1997-1999 on the shelf. What else happened in 1999 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Pearl Gray. Under about ΔE 5 two colors are hard to tell apart side by side - useful when you are identifying an unmarked piece.
On the table alongside Pearl Gray
14 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: