Can a single piece of jewelry, in this case a diamond ring or pendant really tells you what mood you are in? I would think it’s not possible, but some think it can by mood ring which was invented by Joshua Reynolds. Mood rings enjoyed fashion fame in the 1970s and are still around today. The stone of the ring changes its color, supposedly according to the mood or emotional state of the wearer.

The ’stone’ of a mood ring is actually a void quartz or glass shell containing thermo tropic liquid crystals. Modern mood diamond rings are typically made from a flat strip of liquid crystals with a defensive coating. When the temperature changes by twisting the crystal reacts to it. The twisting changes their molecular structure, which alters the wavelengths of light that are absorbed or reflected. ‘Wavelengths of light’ is another way of saying ‘color’, so when the temperature of the liquid crystals changes, so does their color.

Does it really work?

Mood rings can’t tell your emotional state with any degree of exactness, but the crystals were standardized with have a pleasing blue or green color at the average person’s normal latent peripheral temperature of 82°F (28°C). As peripheral body temperature increments, which it does in reacts to passion and happiness; the crystals twist to reflect blue. When you are excited or stressed, blood flow is bounded away from the skin and more toward the internal organs, cooling the fingers, causing the crystals to twist the other direction, to reflect more yellow. In cold weather, or if the ring was damaged, the stone would be dark gray or black and unresponsive.

What the Mood Ring Colors Mean

The top of the list is the warmest temperature, at violet, moving to the coolest temperature, at black.

• violet blue - happy, romantic
• blue – calm, relaxed
• green – average, not much going on with you
• yellow/amber – tense, excited
• brown/gray – nervous, anxious
• black - cold temperature or damaged ring