#12B3C4
Clear turquoise
A Bright Winter color
anchor color 6 of 10 in Bright Winter. Also called Clear Winter in other systems.
By Kathleen Olsen · Updated November 11, 2026
Clear turquoise is blue-green with the grey taken out. Cool, clean, and bright. It is the Bright Winter turquoise, and it is distinguished from the Spring turquoises by temperature rather than brightness: the same intensity, pointed toward blue instead of green.
Clear turquoise is an anchor color in Bright Winter. Nothing on the same side of the warm–cool line comes within twenty points of it; the nearest is Soft cool teal #4E8A88 in True Summer at 22. That makes it a clean test. If it suits you, you are in this palette.
Turquoise is where the Bright seasons meet. Bright Winter and Bright Spring both have one, and they sit twelve points apart. The Winter version at RGB 18, 179, 196 has more blue than green. The Spring version flips that balance. In a shop the difference is subtle, and most retailers call both of them turquoise or aqua.
On a Bright Winter, clear turquoise is an accent, not a neutral. It wants black or bright white to sit against, and it does something good with hot pink that most people would not try. It is a strong color for summer in a palette that is otherwise built for winter, which makes it useful.
The hard part is finding it saturated. Most turquoise on the market is softened into teal, aqua or mint. Those are different colors and belong to different seasons. Hold the garment against a bright white. Clear turquoise stays clean. A softened one looks slightly chalky.
The nearest color is Bright Spring's clear warm aqua, twelve points off and greener. On a Bright Winter the Spring aqua looks a touch yellow. On a Bright Spring, clear turquoise looks a touch cold. The gap is small enough that both borrow across it. True Summer's soft cool teal, twenty-two points off, is the other mistake: same hue, but greyed.
The nearest named colors in other seasons, by perceptual distance (ΔE in CIELAB; under 10 is hard to tell apart on a screen, over 25 is a different color).
Clear warm aqua #29C4C4
Bright Spring anchor · ΔE 12
Warm turquoise #1FC3B8
True Spring anchor · ΔE 18
Warm aqua #6FD6C6
Light Spring anchor · ΔE 22
Soft cool teal #4E8A88
True Summer anchor · ΔE 22
Cool sky blue #7FB6DC
Light Summer anchor · ΔE 24
Warm turquoise #16BFA6
Bright Spring anchor · ΔE 25
As of November 11, 2026, nothing in stock samples close to #12B3C4. The guide below has the nearest colors that do. The dot on each card is the color we sampled from the garment itself; trust it over the photograph. Links are affiliate links: we earn a commission when you buy through them, at no cost to you.
Yes. Clear turquoise (#12B3C4) is an anchor color in the Bright Winter palette. No other palette on the same side of the warm–cool line has a color near it, which makes it a reliable test for the season.
No. Teal is turquoise darkened and often greyed. Clear turquoise as the Bright Winter palette uses it is RGB 18, 179, 196: light enough and clean enough to read as bright. Teal belongs to the deeper and softer seasons.
Yes. Bright Spring's own clear warm aqua is twelve points away. Clear turquoise reads a shade cool on a Bright Spring, but the brightness matches and that is what matters most for that season.
With care. It is brighter and lighter than most of the Deep Winter palette, so it can look a little loud near the face. As an accessory against black it usually works.
For a Bright Winter: black, bright white, cobalt, hot pink. Turquoise with black is the easy version. Turquoise with hot pink is the ambitious one.
The Bright Winter guide · All in-stock Bright Winter pieces · ← Fuchsia · Bright violet → · All colors