Benjamin Moore today introduced an all-new palette of 240 exceptional, eye-candy hues called Color Stories.

The difference between these and the 3,000 other colors is in the handcrafted manufacturing process. Formulated with more pigments in very precise, exacting amounts, the new colors have a greater clarity, purity and richness.

“We have broken all the rules with the creation of Color Stories, and have achieved colors we’ve never been able to before,” said Ray Gomez, Benjamin Moore’s director of color marketing. “These are full spectrum paint colors, meaning that we’re combining anywhere between five and seven pigments, using no black or gray tints. Conventional colors use only three pigments and often fill in with black or gray.”

Each Color Stories color is much like a secret recipe and only select authorized Benjamin Moore retailers will be equipped to mix them making them impossible to duplicate. “The retailers who take on Color Stories will really qualify as paint mixologists, because the process requires such infallible accuracy,” Gomez remarked.

By organizing Color Stories according to the fundamental color families, the Benjamin Moore team has created eight descriptive “volumes” to help as color decorating choices are made. Look for Earthen Hues, Elemental Greens, Fiery Sunset, Fluid Blues, Golden Fields, Naturally Neutral, Shades of Gray, and Violet Twilight.

“With Color Stories there’s a complexity to the color experience that is amazing,” said Gomez. “Moreover, the colors in the palette evoke emotions and feelings more so than most colors, which is one of the reasons we named it Color Stories. You’ll find there’s a story and a personality behind each hue.”

With such an incomparable encyclopedic color system, Benjamin Moore only launches new color palettes when there’s a valid breakthrough. The last such rollout was Affinity, introduced together with Aura paint in 2006. The release of Color Stories is considered to be another milestone. According to Gomez, the research and development to build upon this initial full spectrum palette is ongoing, and there is great optimism that there will be more Color Stories to come in the near future. “Benjamin Moore has excelled in harnessing the science of color and we are continuing to explore and discover more ways to enrich the existing portfolio.”

Gomez said that Color Stories is expected to resonate largely with architects and interior designers as well as consumers who have a discerning eye for color and how it is individually perceived.