Turquoise
In production1988-present · Color No. 107
Introducing Turquoise, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 1988 to current production. It's a refreshing and vibrant shade of blue-green, reminiscent of tropical waters and summer skies. Turquoise adds a pop of color and a sense of tranquility to any tablescape. Mix and match Turquoise with colors like White and Sunflower for a fresh and summery table setting, or pair it with Scarlet and Shamrock for a lively and festive combination.
Production
Turquoise is in production right now. Fiesta Factory Direct is the factory's own store, in Newell, West Virginia - the same plant that made the piece.
Buy Fiesta (opens in a new tab)Notes on Turquoise
Turquoise is the connective tissue of the whole line. It first appeared in 1937, ran to 1969, then came back in 1988 - and it's still in production, which makes it the only color Fiesta has made in both eras that you can still buy today. On this run alone it has outlasted every color except White. It's a soft blue-green that works with nearly everything, which is presumably why it keeps surviving palette changes. The vintage and Post 86 versions are close but not identical; if you're mixing them on one table, expect a visible but not unpleasant difference.
Using Turquoise on a table
Turquoise has enough color to be noticed without taking over, which makes it a good second or third piece - a salad plate or a serving bowl rather than the whole setting. Its mid lightness (L* 67) means most food reads against it without either washing out or vanishing. It nearly disappears against a white cloth (2.5:1), 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 Turquoise in this guide's description of it.
All still in production
Every color in this set is being made right now, so you can complete the whole table today.
Opposite on the wheel
Flamingo sits roughly opposite Turquoise in hue, which is the highest-contrast pairing the palette offers. The neutrals keep it from shouting.
All blue
Every color here is from the blue family, arranged light to dark. A single-family table reads calm and deliberate rather than busy.
Three-way split
Heather and Sage sit about a third of the way around the color wheel from Turquoise in each direction. Evenly spaced hues stay lively without any one taking over.
Where Turquoise sits in the line
Turquoise arrived while Cobalt was still in production, and is noticeably lighter than it - a complete change of direction rather than a reformulation (ΔE 50.5). It has been in production 38 years against a median of 7 for its era - one of the colors the company kept. What else happened at the company in 1988 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Turquoise. 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 Turquoise
46 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: