Low temperature arc vapor deposition (LTAVD) is one of the widely applied techniques for industrial production of decorative and functional coatings. Using this technology, nanocrystalline zirconium nitride and oxynitride coatings are deposited, which mimic nickel and stainless steel colors with superior corrosion and abrasion resistance. The slightly nitrided or nitrided and oxidized color layer is mainly comprised of nano-phase to amorphous metallic refractory metal with textured metal nitride phase, as determined using x-ray diffraction. For example, zirconium nitride primarily oriented in (111) plane and smaller than 50 nm in grain size, or metallic zirconium primarily oriented in (112) plane and smaller than 80 nm, depending on the proportion of oxygen in total gas flow. Such types of structures are produced at relatively low processing pressures, ranging from 1 to 5 millitorr. These nanostructure coatings have superior abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance.