Fresnel and specular colour I'm trying to implement Cook-Torrance BRDF and had previously bookmarked this question as it looked very well thought out. Going through it, I'm confused about the Fresnel equation. The author has the equation:

$$
F = c_{spec} + (1 - c_{spec}) (1 - \mathbf{w_i} \cdot \mathbf{h})^5 \tag{1}
$$

and says "$c_{spec}$ is the specular color"

Looking elsewhere, I can see this equation is Schlick's approximation, but in other references, $c_{spec}$ is called $R_0$ and is $\left(\frac{n_1-n_2}{n_1+n_2}\right)^2$ which is clearly a number based upon refractive indices and not a colour.

Does equation $(1)$ make sense with colour?
Yes, because refractive index can vary with wavelength. This is the origin of colored specular reflection in metals such as gold and copper; most other materials have essentially uncolored specular. At each wavelength, the specular reflectance at normal incidence is related to the refractive index at that wavelength according to the formula you mentioned.

In case you're interested, the site refractiveindex.info has data tables and graphs of refractive index versus wavelength for various materials. For example, here's gold: