Mood Ring Color Meanings: Quick Guide & Chart
A mood ring on my significant other’s sweet hands compared to mine indicates that both of us differ in moods, at least according to popular belief on how mood rings work.
Is it true or false?
This concise guide on the mood ring color meaning will explain the origins, science, and fashion jewelry take on this interesting topic before you shop for your mood ring or necklace.
Changing color of a mood ring may represent an alteration of the wearer’s state of mind according to modern thermotropic science and inventors Ambats and Reynolds. However, since body and external factors affect the mood ring color, it is not always an emotion responsible for the ring’s conversion.
Mood Ring Meaning Color Chart Explained
The following mood ring chart shows the different moods ring jewelry can display in association with a specific emotional state of the wearer:
Mood Ring Color Chart: Subtle Changes Progression
| Old Mood Rings & Emotions | Modern Mood Rings & Emotions |
| ♦Black: Nervous, Tense | ♦Black: Stressed |
| ♦Gray: Anxious, Strained | ♦Brown: Anxious, Cautious, Cool, Mellow |
| ♦Amber/Brown: Unhappy, Cool | ♦Orange: Confused, Upset, Mixed, Challenged |
| ♦Green: Calm, Average | ♦Green: Restless, Worried, Irritated, Restless |
| ♦Blue Green: Charged, Relaxed | ♦Light Blue: Optimistic, Normal, Upbeat, Calm |
| ♦Blue: At Ease, Loveable, Calm, Relaxed | ♦Dark Blue: Happy, giving, Bliss, Deeply Relaxed, Love struck |
| ♦Violet: Very Happy, Romance, Passion, Love | ♦Violet: Romance, Heat, Moody, Sensual |
| – | ♦Pink: Very Happy, Affectionate, Curious |
| Chart & Source:Litawear.com, Info old rings:ToddHelmenstine |
As demonstrated above, mood rings correspond, as a form of self-awareness, to the wearer´s emotions (cooler temperature like cool green function as a reliable indicator for e.g. restlessness while dark blue represent a relaxed and optimistic current emotional state).
However, what a mood ring means, has evolved over time, including different materials used, color dependencies, body temperature changes interpretations, and so much more.
Time to break it down for you in a bit more simple terms.
Old Mood Ring vs New Mood Ring Colors: Short History
As the mood ring colors chart above illustrates, one can see that most old colors associated with the emotional change of a person, while wearing a mood-changing ring, have remained the same.
Since the discovery of the mood ring by New York inventors Maris Ambats and Josh Reynolds in the 1970s (Source).
The mood ring color spectrum ranges from black on the one side to violet and pink on the other end of the emotional state, according to inventors Ambats and Reynolds.
It is fair to mention that Rita Frenger is another female mood ring pioneer (like Maris Ambats) who created a skin jewelry product that is supposedly superior to the more popular mood rings.
However, because of its inexpensive pricing and especially simple attachment to the skin anywhere, conventional mood jewelry is simply prevalent when shoppers are looking to buy a mood color ring.
Modern mood ring color inventors like Sheldon F. Kwiat even patented complex liquid crystals “employing fluorescent diamonds to create a hidden message“.
How Mood Rings Change (3 Simple Steps)
Liquid crystals that seat between solid and liquid phases influence the shape and colors of a ring as a result of a skin-to-ring temperature reaction also known as thermotropic. Inside the (black) ring are so-called thermochromic liquid crystals that alter with contact when human body temperature changes.
Simply said, the process works as follows:
- Step 1: Wear a mood ring (black)
- Step 2: Change emotional state (e.g., happiness)
- Step 3: Mood ring changes to violet-pink (happiness)
Positive and negative emotions of the ring-wearer are associated with the ring’s change as his body temperature reacts to his current mood (e.g. feeling calm), at least if you follow the inventors of this hot fashion accessory’s logical argument.
Pros and Cons of Mood Jewelry Rings
There are obviously benefits and doubts about the ability of the colorful rings, moon beads, or color-changing necklaces to detect a person’s mood, despite scientific evidence that to a certain degree, there is a correlation between the two (Source).
Mood Rings Benefits
A mood ring’s advantage lies in the following:
- Easily detect your mood or of another person just by watching his mood ring color changes
- Medical plus, if an ill-tempered person should be admitted to hospital, kept or pre-screened
- Check your children’s and babies emotional state by using a mood ring initially
- Reduce stress by counter-acting when your mood jewelry alters to negative
- A mood jewelry ring is also a fashionable, affordable, and useful accessories
Mood Jewelry Drawbacks
- Feeling of control instead of natural self-awareness
- Color change may not correspond with actual mood since the technology behind it may not be accurate or perfect
Monitoring one’s state of mind from angry to delightful by using mood jewelry of all kinds is a poor attempt at self-awareness and therapy. Nevertheless, there might be a true benefit on a medical level.
Why?
Next to trendy mood rings for her and him, science has advanced into critical health fields regarding this interesting subject.
For example, with the introduction of sun jewelry with so-called Melanoma bracelets that can detect harmful UV’s by changing from white to purple.
The definition of what mood-sensitive devices from rings to lamps, to pet collars mean as stress indicators and modern self-therapy to you and me, is only going to grow.
As science, technology, and humans merge into something new, like Elon Musk’s Neurolink project, ChatGPT AI and others advance the new frontier intersection between tech and human beings.
What Does Black Mean on A Mood Ring?
The color black has two distinct meanings in mood rings or necklace beads. First, it is the base color when you put on/off the ring. Secondly, black stands on the color spectrum for negative emotions like nervousness, tension, and stress according to the mood ring chart.
Is a Mood Ring Water-Resistant?
Mood rings contain thermochromatic liquid crystals and should not be exposed to water because once the ring gets wet it stops functioning in terms of changing its ring color in correspondence to the coolest to warmest temperature change ranges.
Usually, the natural state of a mood color ring or necklace beads is black.
Can Mood Necklaces and Rings Predict Emotions (Conclusion)
Yes and no! As discussed above, the ability of a mood jewelry ring to predict your emotions is traceable using scientific methods like body temperature changes as a result of certain or mixed emotional reactions.
This works on a medical level (thermoregulation) as the blood flows increase towards extremities like hands when we are, for example, excited.
On the other, blood flow decreases and flows less in the direction of the extremities, often as a physical reaction to emotional states like stress (e.g. cold hands).
Whole-body heating and skin temperature regulation is unfortunately not the only factor that can convert a ring into a specific color meaning.
An external environment is capable of changing the ring color and therefore associated moods too, especially when unstable conditions prevail.
How Mood Rings Work
In order for mood necklaces and rings jewelry (including mood beads which change individually in color), to more or less predict the wearer´s emotions, a healthy body and external temperature conditions must exist as well as a quality mood jewel operating.
In that regard, mood rings work and are for real, but have their clear limitations and multicolored beads mean rather a fun jewelry trend than any measurement of your inner state just like Celtic mood ring gifts.
Last, but not least, the benefits of a ring mood are easy to see:
Even if it’s just a fun way of using mood ring monitors, it’s definitely a cheaper piece and unique gift idea than a state-of-the-art smartwatch or real fine jewelry like an engagement ring, which of course the latter is potentially life-changing.