Saturation describes which aspect of color?

• A. The brightness of a color.
• B. The strength or intensity of a color.
• C. The hue of a color.
• D. The ability of a diamond to reflect light.

Answer: (B)

Saturation is about how pure or vivid a color is—the strength or intensity of the hue. It measures how free the color is from gray. A highly saturated color looks strong and intense, while a color with low saturation appears washed out or grayish. This is different from brightness (how light or dark the color is) and hue (which color family the hue belongs to, like red or blue). The diamond’s ability to reflect light relates to brightness/brilliance, not how saturated the color is. For example, a deep, pure blue gem has high saturation, whereas adding gray lowers saturation and makes the blue look duller.