Black Jack
What Black Jack Actually Looks Like
Black Jack is about as close to true black as Benjamin Moore gets without crossing into a pure, flat black. Its hex sits in the very low thirties for lightness, which means in most rooms it reads as a deep, dark charcoal-black. In bright daylight it shows just enough warmth to feel less stark than a printer's black. In low or dim light it is simply black, full stop.
Black Jack Undertones
The RGB values for Black Jack are almost perfectly balanced across red, green, and blue, which means this color carries no strong undertone pull in either direction. It does not go purple, it does not go green, it does not go brown. That near-perfect neutrality is genuinely useful because it means Black Jack can sit alongside warm or cool palettes without fighting them.
Where Black Jack Works Best
Black Jack earns its place on exterior trim, front doors, cabinetry, and accent walls where you want serious depth and drama. It is a reliable choice for a kitchen island, a library or study with good lighting, or any millwork detail where you want crisp, high-contrast definition. It works on interiors and exteriors, so it is equally at home on a shutter as it is on a built-in bookcase.
Where to put Black Jack
On lower cabinets or an island, Black Jack creates a grounded, high-contrast look against lighter uppers or a white countertop. Keep the hardware simple, brass or matte black, and make sure you have good task lighting because this color absorbs a lot of light.
Black Jack is an excellent front door choice. Its near-perfect neutrality means it works with brick, wood siding, and painted exteriors alike, and a semi-gloss or gloss finish gives it just enough sheen to read as intentional rather than flat.
On all four walls in a small study, Black Jack creates a cocooning, focused atmosphere. Pair it with warm wood shelving and warm-toned lighting to keep the space from feeling cold.
A powder room in Black Jack with bright white trim and warm brass fixtures is one of the more effective small-room moves in residential design. The space is small enough that the darkness is dramatic rather than oppressive, and you are not spending hours in it.
This is where Black Jack really earns its keep. It reads as a clean, sharp near-black against almost any body color and holds up well on trim where durability and crispness matter most.
What to Pair With Black Jack
No coordinating colors are listed in our database for this color, so pair it by principle. Black Jack is neutral enough to sit cleanly next to warm whites, soft creams, pale grays, and natural wood tones. On exteriors, a crisp white body color with Black Jack trim is a classic pairing that never looks tired.
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Colors that clash with Black Jack
In a room with a lot of cool, blue-dominant light or blue-heavy furnishings, Black Jack can feel flat and heavy rather than dramatic because there is no warm undertone to bridge the gap.
With an LRV just above six, Black Jack absorbs most of the light in a room. In a north-facing or basement room with no additional lighting it can feel like the walls close in.
Because Black Jack is so neutral, a yellow-leaning off-white trim color can look unintentionally dingy or mismatched next to it rather than warm and deliberate.
Common questions
Black Jack has an LRV of 6.04, which puts it in the very darkest range of usable paint colors. Pure white is 100 and pure black is zero, so 6.04 means this color reflects almost no light. Plan your artificial lighting carefully before painting a full room.
Semi-gloss or high-gloss. At this depth of color, a flat or eggshell finish can look chalky and show every imperfection in the substrate. Gloss also makes cleanup easier and adds a small amount of reflectivity that keeps the door from looking completely light-absent.
Yes. The Benjamin Moore code is 2133-20. That is what you give the paint desk, and it pulls the correct formula every time.
Yes, Benjamin Moore makes this color available in both interior and exterior formulas, which is part of why it is such a practical choice for trim, doors, and shutters.
Yes, the light conditions are completely different. Outdoors in full sun it will read as a very deep charcoal with more warmth than you expect. Indoors in dim light it reads as essentially black. Sample it in both locations before committing.