This is a post in a series of 31 Days of Wood Finishing. See the intro post with all the topics here.
Metamerism is the phenomenon exhibited by a pair of colors that match under one set of lighting conditions, but not under a different set.
Let’s say that I finish a piece of furniture at my shop. When it is finished it may look exactly like the color sample that was provided. However, when it is delivered to the customer’s home, they may have different lighting. The furniture piece may look lighter, or even darker than expected
I have noticed this at customer’s homes. If the piece is next to a window with the sun shining on one side, it will look lighter than the other side.
If the customer has spotlights above the piece of furniture this can make the color look different also.
After I do a repair that is invisible, I have had some customers pull out the bright flashlights to make sure the repair is perfect. This is annoying because the repair has to be colored differently according to the light it is in.
Anyway, metamerism is a word that has stuck with me after reading about it several years ago. And every once in a while a customer pulls out the spotlights, and I have to explain about this phenomenon.
Zeke Willard