You might find this picture from the Model 970 gallery useful. It shows a 970 (same finish as the 990) sitting on top of a 7075 (same finish as the 7700). The black inset on the front of the Model 970 is a fairly pure black, and the rest of the front is a somewhat lighter shade. Interesting observation: the left side of both units appear to be a very close match, but the right side of the picture might suggest that the 970 is lighter than the 7075 - which is most likely due to that corner of the 970 receiving somewhat more light from the photographer's lights than the rest. (Being the son of a metalsmith/photographer (his bachelor's was in photo while his MFA was in metals), I'm probably more aware than most of the trials and tribulations of photographing metals. )