Mood Ring Colors and Mood Ring Meanings

In 1975, inventors Maris Ambats and Josh Reynolds created the first mood ring.

This ring changes colors in response to body temperature, possibly reflecting the emotion associated with the wearer. After the rings were invented, they were an instant sensation; however, despite the high price tag.

A silver ring costs about $45, although a gold ring is available for more than $250. The color that the rings produce when cooled are different than the ones that appear when the ring is warmed. There are many kinds of mood rings. Each kind has a different composition of colors, so each mood ring can give off a different vibe.

Key Takeaways: Mood Ring Colors

• They are used in electronics because their optical properties can be controlled by temperature. When the temperature changes, the orientation of the crystals also changes, altering their color.
• Your jewelry isn’t a good indication of what you’re feeling at any given time. In the summer, the colors could easily be due to changes in the external environment.
• Old-fashioned mood rings often had a uniform color change. But these days, modern pigments don’t have to follow the old pattern.
• Some modern rings actually change color when they’re turned.

Chart of Mood Ring Colors and Meanings

This chart shows the colors of the typical 1990s mood ring and the meanings associated with the mood ring colors: Orange: Sensitive, fun, angry Lilac: Loving, soft, shy Light Green: Relaxed, happy Teal: Calm, stable, smart Pink: Sensitive, loving, romantic Blue-Green: Friendly, interested, open Orange.

It is usually cooler than red, yellow or blue.

How Mood Rings Work

Liquid crystals contain tiny molecules that respond to temperature changes. These are used to make a mood ring. It depends on both the temperature and your mood, which means there is some scientific basis for the working of a mood ring.

If you want to lose weight, try eating more fresh fruit and veggies, drink lots of water, and practice meditation and yoga. The colder temperature of your fingers registers as a gray or amber color.

When you are excited, more blood flows to your fingers, which increase your finger’s temperature. If you put the color of a mood ring in the red end of its range, it turns green.

Why the Colors Aren’t Accurate

Many modern mood rings use thermochromic pigments. The rings may be set to have a green or blue color at normal peripheral body temperatures. So, while one mood ring might be blue at normal (calm) body temperature, another ring containing a different material might be red, yellow, purple, etc.

A few of these modern thermochromic pigments may color up or down based on temperature. For example, a ring that starts out as purple might end up brown. Leuco dyes are only visible in the presence of certain chemicals. For example, if you mix the dye with bromine, it becomes pink.

Color Depends on Temperature

This kind of jewelry is temperature-sensitive; it will give you different readings depending on where you wear it. As an example, a red-hued stone in a cool stone may show a cool or a warm color. But a stone with more warmth in it might become much more vibrant when encased by a warmer colored necklace.

What happened is the wearer’s hand got cold, so the fingers were cooler than the rest of the hand. Old-style, traditional mood rings could be damaged permanently. If the ring got wet or even exposed to high humidity, the pigments would react with the water and lose their ability to change color. When you’re at home, try to avoid wearing rings that may turn brown or black if they come in contact with water.

Mood “stones” are usually made of glass or ceramic. They’re often coated with a polymer to protect them from damage. Bead necklaces look cool because a single bead may display an entire rainbow of colors, with the warmest color facing the skin and the coolest color (black or brown) away from the body. It’s safe to say that the color blue is associated with the emotion of sadness.

Finally, the color of a mood ring may be changed by placing a colored glass, quartz, or plastic dome over the thermochromic crystals. You can change the color of a yellow pigment by placing a green filter over it. This will cause it to appear as if it is tinted green. Colors tend to change in predictable patterns. However, there is no way to know what the associated mood may be without experimentation.

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