Black Hills Gold History
Black Hills Gold Jewelry features a unique design of grape leaves, clusters and vines in tri- colored gold. By federal mandate, this style of jewelry must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to be described as “Black Hills Gold Jewelry.”
Over a span of 14 years, 360 gold miners - turned craftsmen carved a rough granite Monument. Today in dozens of intricate steps, their descendants our craftspeople, carry on this tradition of quality and excellence with every piece of Mt. Rushmore Black Hills Gold - South Dakota's official state jewelry.
What makes this Jewelry so unique is the yellow gold grapes with leaf designs in shades of pink and green gold. The colors are actually achieved by alloying gold and silver to produce green and alloying copper with gold to produce pink. The frosty appearance is achieved by wriggling, or engraving, the leaves.
The gold and silver, which was used to make the first Black Hills Gold Jewelry, had been mined at the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, at the time it was the largest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. Henri LeBeau, a prospector from France, did not discover this gold; however, he did create the legendary jewelry with the leaves and grapes which he sold to other miners and prospectors.
According to legend, the origin of Black Hills Gold was inspired by a French goldsmith, Henri LeBeau.
Many years ago, the young Frenchman designed and made jewelry in Paris. After he perfected his method, he came to America. During the 1849 Gold Rush days, he decided to go to California and make his fortune. When he reached the rugged Black Hills of South Dakota, he became hopelessly lost in the wilderness. He wandered for days without food or water. By some miracle of nature he had a vision of running water with grape leaves floating in a stream from a nearby vineyard. The vision was real and his life was saved.
Henri never did strike gold of his own but he did stay in the Black Hills where he continued his craft. Influenced by his mystical experience, the jewelry he created took the shape of grape clusters and leaves, fashioned in rose, green and yellow gold. The familiar design is almost the same as it was a century ago.
Today, each piece of Black Hills Gold Jewelry is manufactured through a series of up to 40 different steps. Each tiny leaf or swirl is made with infinite care. The perfection of detail requires that artists spend from one to eight hours creating a single piece.
One hundred twenty years have passed since that first piece was made and some people still say that wearing the jewelry brings them "good luck!"
- All Wedding Sets are 14K except #G408 which is 10K.
- Stone Sizes and diamond weights are apporximate.
- Gold Earrings shown are for pierced ears and have 14K posts and nuts.
- All cast "G" series pieces are 10K gold (unless otherwise noted).
- All cast "MR" series pieces are Sterling Silver (unless otherwise noted).
- Colored leaves are 12K
- Pendant Chains are "18" and are 14K gold-filled or Sterling Silver. (10K available upon request)
- Sterling Silver chains have a rhodium finish.
- Pendant Chains are complimentary and included at no extra charge.
- All Gold-and-Silver Jewelry (MR series) is coated with our Perma-Brite finish.
Black Hills Gold is a special item created in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
We will e-mail you the estimated shipping window, and again with the tracking number once they are sent...
Please place your order early.** Certain sizes or items may not be in stock even if they are marked that they are and can take an additional 10 days before it's ready, you can expect a 2-3 week waiting period when ordering rings for casting not all sizes are available, and still need time to cast so even if you order UPS 2 Day or Overnight delivery, allow us time to create your item.
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