Functional rings that do functional...stuff.

November 7, 2007 8:33 PM

Help me find functional jewelry, in particular rings.

By functional jewelry I mean something that does something or reacts to something. Right now I have a spin band (which is sort of like a bearing), a ring with a gem of Alexandrite (which changes color depending on light) and I'm thinking about getting a puzzle ring. If an LED ring existed, I'd get that (no, the velcro 'strap-on' rings don't count). I've also heard of bottle opener rings and watch rings. And of course a quick Google search brings up a compass ring.

I'll also accept anything on wearable tools, like a wristwatch with a built-in screwdriver or some stylish angle cutter necklace or something. Now that'd be handy. Metafilter already answered my question about the LED Watch, which I now own two of. Thanks!

Have I covered everything a ring is capable of doing? Is that really it?

posted by ostranenie to clothing, beauty, & fashion (18 comments total)

the carrotbox is a great blog for unusual rings, but they aren't always functional, of course. redstart design has a level ring and a 'subtle safety' ring, and a different compass ring. here is a salt/pepper shaker ring. More hardware-esque jewelry is available at individual icons.

there's also this slightly disturbing bracelet with detachable razor and handy guides for slitting your wrists!
posted by logic vs love at 9:08 PM on November 7, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Poison rings.
posted by desuetude at 9:13 PM on November 7, 2007

Historically the main purpose of 'functional' rings has been for poisoning people. Do you need a ring with a function you can actually use?
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:16 PM on November 7, 2007

I'd like something with some kind of tool - a light, bottle opener, poison ring (right...how did I forget that one? My wife actually owns one) <shudder/>, duct tape ring, I don't know. Something that does something or has something interesting about it, like a gem that changes color depending on the wavelength of light, or something you can take apart and put back together again (puzzle ring).

The holy grail of course would be an LED Flashlight ring, but I doubt anyone will be savvy enough to market that anytime soon.
posted by ostranenie at 9:51 PM on November 7, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ah, the poison ring. I spent hours practing surreptitious use of my allegedly accurate repro one in high school.

I'd also suggest a sewing ring (basically a cutter for thread or yarn). I had a friend who had a magnet on one side, too, for when she dropped her needle. I still prefer having a cutting locket instead of a ring for cutting yarn while knitting, but the ring is popular among quilters.
posted by julen at 10:23 PM on November 7, 2007

If you have a ring containing a very powerful magnet, you will be able to sense magnetic fields and changing electric fields.
posted by polyglot at 10:42 PM on November 7, 2007

polyglot: I don't suppose you have a link to "a ring containing a very powerful magnet", do you? (All I get when I search is those cheap magnetic "health" rings and round chunks of ferrite.) I've always envied that guy you link to, and if I could have what he had, but without the implant stuff, that'd be fricken' awesome.
posted by philomathoholic at 11:46 PM on November 7, 2007

There are pincushion rings, old-fashioned and otherwise.
posted by sculpin at 12:10 AM on November 8, 2007

You might like the sliding locket ring by Patty Cokus. Her "articulated frustra" series of rings is pretty neat, too -- not particularly useful, but nifty and with moving parts.
posted by sculpin at 12:18 AM on November 8, 2007

Spoon Jewelry . . . just in case, ya know?
posted by Sassyfras at 6:43 AM on November 8, 2007

Wow, I could have written this myself! I have an alexandrite ring, a puzzle ring, a claddagh ring, a three-band rolling ring, a rainbow moonstone ring (not quite as cool as alexandrite but still a pretty and unique effect), and a ring that's just a thin band with a dangling heart that can move around the band (I got it here but man, that website sucks). I used to wear them all at the same time, too.

If you're interested in making your own jewelry, there are some colors of Swarovski crystals that change color depending on the light. One is called "alexandrite", but I prefer the cantaloupe color, which can appear pale green, gray, or peachy pink.

I've always been fascinated by star sapphires, too - which is kinda stretching the meaning of "functional" but still pretty cool.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:12 AM on November 8, 2007

If you liked the compass ring, you should check out the rest of LeeAnn Herreid's jewelry. For instance, level rings. I first learned about her years ago, and loved the blend of utility and beauty.

Great question, thanks for asking it!
posted by sarahmelah at 8:56 AM on November 8, 2007

Ostranenie, oh ye of little faith!

Of course, those are not jewelry-type rings that serve a dual functional/decorative purpose, but they are still finger mounted LED flashlights. The first time I saw something similar they were sold as a pack of 5 in assorted colors, and meant to be attached to fingers for attending a rave.

I bought them for my husband so he could still read addresses on mail (he's a mail carrier) towards the end of his shift in the winter months.
posted by timepiece at 1:48 PM on November 8, 2007

Rings with slots for opening jump rings are available from many different jewelry supply stores.

Custom jewelry is surprisingly affordable. If you really want that LED ring, you can get a small light and have it set.
posted by yohko at 4:40 PM on November 8, 2007

Mood rings? They operate on body heat. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned them.
posted by divabat at 12:02 AM on November 9, 2007

Timepiece, that looks like an awesome product (definitely beats the crap out of the POSes you can buy at Sprawl-Mart) but I can't find a place online where they sell it! The distributor page on fingerlight.com is blank! :-(
posted by ostranenie at 6:00 PM on November 10, 2007

philomathoholic: sorry, was just extrapolating from the implant. I've not actually seen a magnetic ring with that sort of strength but it should be possible to make one on the cheap to see how it goes.
posted by polyglot at 3:10 PM on November 11, 2007

In the interest of science!, I purchased a couple of magnetic rings that I found online. The first was pretty weak (made of hematite), and I wasn't able to feel anything described in this wired article. Then I bought one from United Nuclear (the same people that sell uranium online!), it was the strongest I could find online ("a powerful N45 Neodymium core").

I felt a slight buzzing around the power source of a clock radio and near a circuit breaker panel. I didn't feel anything around the theft detectors by the doors of a retail store (but I haven't checked out their automatic soft tag de-activators that will make a hard tag jump). The ring can hold up two big paper clips (in series, obviously) or three small ones. I wasn't able to create a paper clip magnet, due to the fact that the ring is actually nickel plated (I think this is the cause) and is not just a bare magnet. If you put the ring on an appropriate finger, you could hide your keys in your palm.

The funnest part about it was messing with some credit cards. With some experimentation around some useless cards, I was able to determine that all that's needed to render a card un-readable is a touch to the magnetic stripe. To remove all traces of magnetic information stored on a card, just run the ring along the strip, once is sufficient. I try to keep the hand with the ring on it away from my wallet.

Summary: The United Nuclear ring is pretty strong, but compared to the magnetic implant described in the Wired article, the gain in magnetic sensitivity is pretty weak.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:34 AM on January 4, 2008