OK, I need to vent a bit.

Today, I was looking at metal halide lamps on eBay, which is a regular occurrence. Oftentimes, I am interested in 4200K lamps rather than 3000K ones. However, for some reason that I do not understand, major manufacturers often omit the colour temperature on the case and on the individual sleeve. If I find lamps I like, I find that I have to look up the model number online (often at 1000bulbs) to find the colour temperature. Why they do so, I will never understand. Furthermore, in large installations where they have lots of lamps in their stock room, I wonder how they know which colour is which when they relamp. Or maybe most users hire relamping companies that take care of that without the intervention of the customer. Whatever the reason, it is frustrating...

I'm reasonably certain color temp is 4000-4200k unless otherwise stated when it comes to metal halide lamps. Of course, one of the faults in the technology is a bit of color variation between lamps.

Ah, so one of those unwritten rules...

Now, with CMH, is the default 3000K ?

I understand the individual variations in lamps, that I have no problems.

I've found with most of the CMH lamps I have, the colour temperature seems to be part of the model number on the etch or the package. The quartz lamps however don't really show it though on the pack or the lamp etch.

The etch, yes, but some sellers on eBay sell new in box lamps and the packages are still sealed. I don't fancy contacting them every time I want to know what colour it is as I am oftentimes just browsing.