Method for making coated article and coated article

A method for making a coated article, comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• forming a prefabricated layer on a surface of the substrate by vacuum sputtering, the prefabricated layer being a metal layer containing the metal element ‘N’, or an unsaturated oxide layer containing the metal element ‘N’ and the metal element ‘M’, the metal element ‘N’ being one or more metals selected from a group consisting of titanium, aluminum, and zinc, the metal element ‘M’ being calcium, barium, or a mixture of calcium and barium;
• and
• thermal oxidizing the prefabricated layer to form a color layer on the substrate, the color layer being an oxide layer of the metal element ‘N’, or an oxide layer of the metal element ‘N’ and the metal element ‘M’;
• the color value of the color layer having a L* coordinate between 91 and 98, an a* coordinate between −1 and 1, and a b* coordinate between −2 and 2 in the CIE LAB color system.