Saturation 2 is the second-lowest grade on GIA's six-point saturation scale for coloured stones, indicating colour with a noticeable grey or brown modifier that reduces chromatic purity. Stones graded saturation 2 display muted hue: the chromatic identity is clearer than at saturation 1, but the neutral component is still visually significant. The grade falls within commercial material rather than fine quality.

In the trade

Saturation 2 commands modest pricing relative to the higher grades. In sapphire, the result is a soft, hazy blue or a noticeably greyed teal; in ruby, the colour reads as a muted red with brown undertone. Saturation 2 stones are usually encountered in mid-range jewellery where price point dominates colour quality, and in jobbing lots used for set-piece manufacture rather than for stones intended to anchor a design.

Position on the scale

Within the GIA system, the practical visible step from saturation 1 to saturation 2 is smaller than the step from saturation 4 to saturation 5: saturations cluster at the low end (where the neutral component remains visible across multiple grades) and again at the high end (where small differences in chromatic purity drive disproportionate price). See also saturation, saturation 1, saturation 3, saturation 4, saturation 5, saturation 6.

Further reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — coloured-stone colour grading articles
• GIA — coloured stone grading reference
• International Gem Society — saturation grading overview