Mood necklaces, also known as mood rings or emotion jewelry, are pieces of jewelry that are supposed to indicate your mood or emotions based on the color they turn. The most common type is a ring with a large colored stone in the center that changes colors based on factors like body temperature. But there are also mood necklaces, bracelets, and other styles. These mood jewelry pieces use thermochromic liquid crystals inside the stone or charm to create the color changing effect. The crystals are calibrated to change at certain temperatures that supposedly correlate to different emotions. But how exactly do they work to “read” your mood? Let’s take a closer look at the technology behind mood necklaces and rings.
How Thermochromic Liquid Crystals Work
The key component that allows mood jewelry to change color is thermochromic liquid crystals. These are special temperature sensitive dyes that change color based on their temperature. Here’s a quick overview of how they work:
| Temperature | Crystal Structure | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Tightly packed | Red/Orange |
| Medium | Partially tight | Yellow/Green |
| High | Loose/Separated | Blue/Violet |
As you can see from the table, the crystals are made up of molecules that are packed together tighter or looser depending on the temperature. At lower temperatures, the molecules are tightly packed and reflect longer red/orange wavelengths of light. As the temperature increases, the molecules become more separated which allows shorter blue/violet wavelengths to be reflected. This causes the observable color shift from warmer to cooler colors.
The specific transition temperatures where the crystals change from one color to the next can be “tuned” by their composition. Mood ring manufacturers calibrate the crystals to shift at certain temperatures linked to emotions, which we’ll explain more later. When the crystals are at a set temperature, they strongly reflect that wavelength producing a vivid color. But they reflect transitional colors in between the set points resulting in the gradient color blend.
How Mood Necklaces Use Thermochromic Crystals
Mood necklaces, rings, and other thermochromic jewelry pieces apply these color changing liquid crystals in a few different ways. Here are some of the most common methods:
– Crystals embedded in a stone – The most popular mood ring design features a plastic or glass stone with the crystals infused inside. The smooth dome shape evenly disperses heat to give a gradient color mix.
– Thin flexible discs – Some necklaces and bracelets use tiny flexible discs or chips that contain the crystals and change color. They are often put in a charm holder.
– Painted/coated design – The thermochromic liquid can also be painted or coated directly onto a jewelry surface like a metal charm. This gives a smoother color change.
– Crystal flakes in fluid – Another approach suspends tiny flakes of the crystals inside a transparent liquid-filled chamber. This gives fun swirling color effects.
No matter the exact application, the crystals react to small changes in temperature the same way. But how do they detect the heat to correlate with emotions?
Sensing Body Heat
Thermochromic mood jewelry relies on sensing the heat from your skin to cause the color reactions. Here are the main ways it picks up this temperature:
– Finger contact – Rings and bracelets directly touch your finger or wrist skin, absorbing heat.
– Heat conduction – Necklaces conduct body heat from your chest through the chain to the thermochromic charm.
– Ambient temperature – The surrounding air temperature also plays a small role. But skin contact is the dominant effect.
Interestingly, different parts of your body are typically different temperatures correlating to blood flow. Fingertips and toes are often cooler, while areas like the head or chest tend to be warmer. When you wear a mood ring or necklace, it’s calibrated to show colors based on the expected temperature range from that body part. This allows it to produce more consistent readings.
Color Meanings
So how exactly are emotions linked to the colors that mood jewelry shows? Here is an overview of the meanings typically tied to mood necklace and ring colors:
| Color | Meaning | Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Stressed | Below 82°F / 28°C |
| Blue | Relaxed, calm | 82-92°F / 28-33°C |
| Green | Normal, balanced | 89-95°F / 31-35°C |
| Yellow | Cheerful | 95-99°F / 35-37°C |
| Brown | Overactive | Above 99°F / 37°C |
As you can see, the coolest colors like black and blue are considered calmer moods, while hot colors like yellow are energetic. Green is linked to normal or balanced emotional states. These are generalizations of course, and not scientifically proven associations.
The categorized emotions are also simplified compared to the complexity of real human moods. But the color changes are fun and serve as a reminder to check in with how you’re feeling. Darker colors can prompt you to relax and reduce stress if needed.
Accuracy Limitations
While mood rings and necklaces react to temperature changes caused by shifts in blood flow, they have significant accuracy limits:
– Not everyone’s temperatures correlate the same to emotions due to differences in circulation, metabolism, etc.
– Outside temperature, exercise, clothing, and other factors can alter the readings.
– The categorized emotions are huge oversimplifications of complex human moods.
– They can’t account for the context behind someone’s emotional state.
So the devices can’t actually detect your specific mood or emotions accurately. But they can provide a rough indication of temperature changes that might signify stimulation or relaxation. The key is viewing them as novelty jewelry and not putting too much stock in their readings. Enjoy the pretty shifting colors and use any insights lightly.
Other Color Changing Jewelry
While thermochromic crystals are the standard for mood jewelry, some other options also exist:
– Photochromic – Changes color in UV/sunlight rather than heat.
– Hydrochromic – Reacts to water contact by changing color.
– Electrochromic – Uses voltage to shift color.
– Triboluminescent – Glows or shifts when rubbed.
However, thermochromic is still the most common technology used for mood necklaces, rings, and bracelets due to reacting reliably to body heat. The other effects require specific external triggers to activate the color change. But all these technologies produce visually fun jewelry.
Conclusion
Mood necklaces and other emotion jewelry rely on the color changing effects of thermochromic liquid crystals calibrated to shift at certain temperatures. By detecting the subtle heat changes from your fingers or chest, the crystals appear to transform in reaction to your mood. While the accuracy is limited, mood jewelry provides a novel way to visualize your emotional shifts through vibrant colors. The color meanings can provide playful insights or reminders about your energy and mindset as
