#16BFA6
Warm turquoise
A Bright Spring color
anchor color 4 of 10 in Bright Spring. Also called Clear Spring in other systems.
By Kathleen Olsen · Updated November 11, 2026
Warm turquoise is the Bright Spring blue-green: a turquoise with the green ahead of the blue, bright and warm, the color that pairs with bright coral in the outfit that is the season's signature. It is the blue a Bright Spring reaches for when a true blue feels cold.
Warm turquoise is an anchor color in Bright Spring. Its closest relative outside the palette is Warm turquoise #1FC3B8, a True Spring color, at a perceptual distance of 8. That is near enough for that season to wear it as a neutral, with the accents kept in its own palette.
At RGB 22, 191, 166 the green leads, the blue sits close behind it, and the red is almost absent. The green being ahead is what makes it warm; the red being nearly zero is what makes it bright. Push the blue ahead of the green and it becomes a cool turquoise that belongs to a Winter; add grey and it becomes the muted teal that belongs to the Soft seasons.
A Bright Spring wears it as a color that reads as color: a dress, a knit, a swimsuit, a scarf. It pairs with bright coral as the signature, with warm navy and bright white as the frame, and with golden yellow for a two-color outfit that looks like a holiday. It sits well next to camel, which warms it, and badly next to black, which makes it look like a sports kit.
Retailers call it turquoise, aqua, teal, jade, lagoon, sea green or mint, and the names are unreliable: most of what sells as turquoise is bluer than this, and most of what sells as teal is darker. Hold the garment against a white. Warm turquoise looks green and bright. A cool turquoise looks blue and belongs to a Winter. A teal looks dark and belongs to an Autumn or a Winter.
True Spring's warm turquoise is eight points away and a touch bluer, so the two seasons share the color. Bright Spring's own clear warm aqua is fifteen points off and bluer; Light Spring's warm aqua is fifteen points off and paler. True Winter's emerald is nineteen points off and greener, and Bright Winter's bright emerald is twenty-three points off: on a Bright Spring both read cold, and on a Winter warm turquoise reads a shade yellow.
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).
Warm turquoise #1FC3B8
True Spring anchor · ΔE 8
Warm aqua #6FD6C6
Light Spring anchor · ΔE 15
Emerald #009B6B
True Winter anchor · ΔE 19
Bright emerald #00A86B
Bright Winter anchor · ΔE 23
Light sea green #8FC6B4
Light Summer anchor · ΔE 24
Warm mint #9FE0C0
Light Spring anchor · ΔE 24
As of November 11, 2026, nothing in stock samples close to #16BFA6. 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. Warm turquoise (#16BFA6) is an anchor color in the Bright Spring palette, and close enough to a True Spring color for that season to wear it as a neutral.
Yes, outright. True Spring's warm turquoise is eight points away and a hair bluer, and both are warm and clear. The two seasons buy the same turquoise garment and differ only in what goes beside it, bright white for a Bright Spring and cream for a True Spring.
No. Teal is darker and usually cooler; the Soft seasons' muted teals are grey, and the Winter teals are blue. Warm turquoise is a bright, light blue-green with the green ahead. On a Bright Spring, a teal reads heavy; on a Soft Summer, warm turquoise reads like a highlighter.
For a Bright Spring: bright coral first, then warm navy, bright white, camel, golden yellow and warm fuchsia. Turquoise with coral is the Bright Spring signature. Avoid black, which makes it look like activewear, and cool grey, which makes it look green.
Warm, which surprises people because turquoise reads as a blue. The green is ahead of the blue, and that is the whole difference. Hold it against a white in daylight: a green cast is warm and belongs to a Spring, a blue cast is cool and belongs to a Winter.
The Bright Spring guide · All in-stock Bright Spring pieces · ← Golden yellow · Warm bright emerald → · All colors