One of my most cherished items is the collection of vintage overstock [real deal old school 1970s!] mood stones that I acquired a few years back from a vendor who seemed to have bought up someone’s huge stock of jewelry findings. The first piece of jewelry I ever fell in love with belonged to my mom’s best friend when I was a kid. She had a mood ring stashed in her cabinet, next to her red lava lamp other things from her childhood. I asked to see it every time we visited; I was mystified.
Back when I purchased these, I bought everything the buyer had left. I still have quite a few and I usually release them in batches of 15-25ish a handful of times per year. However, when they’re gone, they’re gone forever. If the vintage stone is what calls you to them, then don’t sleep on your chance to get one. I usually create a simple, throwback style ring to bring focus to the stone. Sometimes I’ll make more elaborate limited edition pieces that are more visually similar to the other jewelry you love from Feral Blue. Like all of my work, they are made with sterling silver and with proper care are built to last well past the days when your best friend’s kid will come fish it out of your memory box.
Spoiler alert: If you’re curious, mood rings work by using thermotropic liquid crystals that react to your body temperature. The “stone” itself is a cabochon-shaped piece of glass. A very thin layer of black plastic-like material containing the crystals was sprayed across the back of the glass. For that reason, handling them when creating the rings is sometimes precarious. The tiniest scratch against something will cause a hole in the material. Once I’ve set the stone, they’re safe from scratches. HOWEVER, they’re not safe from water damage. This is why I warn every customer to take it off before swimming, showering, washing hands, etc. (I swam in my first one and it was toast!) Once they have water damage, the stone will be permanently black. Note that at this point I’m not able to replace it for you on the house. So please take care! I believe the modern stones are less touchy when it comes to water, but I think the color of these older stones is much closer to commonly sought after gemstones.