I have a small collections of Schmetz needles. Before Schmetz came out with "Quilting" needles, I used their Sharp needles but I looked at them and they have a touch of purple on them. Before the Sharps were available, I used there Universal needles which I noticed HAVE no color. They are the oldest needles I own. Neither do any of my Metallica needles have any color on them. I normally use the Quilting needle most of the time unless I use metallic thread which then the Metallica needles are best since they have a bigger hole for the thread. Hope this helps.