Black Hills Gold Jewelry is a style of jewelry that was created in the 1870s by Henri LeBeauold, a French goldsmith. The famous legend of LeBeauold and how he became inspired to create Black Hills Gold Jewelry says that LeBeauold became lost in the Black Hills of South Dakota during the gold rush. Lebeauold, fearing that he was going to die of thirst and starvation feel asleep and had a dream.
In the dream, LeBeauold saw a stream with grapevines growing on its cool banks. Upon awakening, LeBeauold arose and walked over the mountain rise where he found the stream and the grapevines. LeBeauold’s life was saved and he drank heavily from the stream and feasted on the grapes. As a sign of his gratitude, LeBeauold decided to dedicate his talents into creating jewelry that depicted clusters of grapes and leaves in green, yellow and rose gold.
Many consumers may not know that the term “Black Hills Gold Jewelry” does not refer to a certain type of gold. Rather, it actually refers to the special design of the jewelry and its tri-color motif of rose, yellow and green gold. Jewelry carrying the label of Black Hills Gold Jewelry has to be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The jewelry is so unique that it takes up to 40 different steps to capture the details. The distinctive colors of rose and green are made by adding copper and silver to yellow gold.
Here are some specifics of Black Hills Gold Jewelry:
- Leaf accents are 12K gold.
- Grape accents are 10K gold.
- Earring posts, lever backs, hooks and clutches are 14K gold.
- Black Hills Gold is 10K gold.