An Introductory Look at Black Hills Gold

Contrary to popular belief, the term "Black Hills Gold" doesn't refer to a special kind of gold found in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rather, "Black Hills Gold" defines a specific style of jewelry which blends painstaking manufacturing processes, specific design styles and the use of tri-color gold alloys.

In the mid-1800s when the California Gold Rush commenced, the single grape leaf was a frequent and popular design for goldsmiths to use in crafting jewelry. Back in the day, goldsmiths and jewelry makers often plied their craft in the same areas where the gold was mined. As the Gold Rush movement spread from California to Colorado, Montana and South Dakota, goldsmiths and jewelry makers often followed. It is the California goldsmiths and jewelry makers, taking their inspiration from the lush vegetation of the Sacramento Valley, who are credited with expanding the popular single grape leaf design to include several leaves and fruit - originating the grape leaves and clusters motif we now associate exclusively and immediately with Black Hills Gold jewelry.

There's a popular legend that a goldsmith by the name of Henri LeBeau (LeBeaux), who arrived in the Black Hills area in 1876, somehow got lost in the Black Hills and in a delirium brought on by hunger and thirst, "dreamed" of a mountain stream with grape leaves and vines growing near it and thus was inspired to create the Black Hills Gold grape leaves motif. In truth, LeBeau brought such designs with him when he relocated to the Black Hills area from more western gold camps. The grape leaves design wasn't necessarily exclusive nor unique, having already become a rather ubiquitous theme for jewelry making and goldsmithing. It wasn't until an enterprising jewelry maker from Montana arrived in the Black Hills, however, that the lush grape leaves and clusters designs blended with the beauty of tri-color gold to create the Black Hills Gold that we know and love. In 1878, S.T. Butler, a jewelry maker from Montana, relocated to Central City, South Dakota and combined his own jewelry designs with the use of gold alloys to craft what we now identify as Black Hills Gold.

The familiar tri-color of Black Hills Gold jewelry is attained by mixing gold with other metals: The green-tinted gold used in Black Hills Gold is an alloy of gold and silver; the rose gold we see in Black Hills Gold is an alloy of gold and copper. The manufacture of Black Hills Gold incorporates many complex steps, but the process which gives Black Hills Gold jewelry its unmistakable look is a combination of an acid bath followed by a 24k gold electroplating over the entire piece (including the green and rose gold portions). The gold electroplating is then removed from the green and pink gold areas by a process known as "wriggling." It's the removal of the gold electroplated layer that gives a Black Hills Gold jewelry piece its uniquely textured look.

Another interesting tidbit makes Black Hills Gold unique: There is only one open pit mine still in operation in the Black Hills area; the Wharf open pit mine, located west of Lead, South Dakota, was expected to produce 55,000 ounces of gold in 2009 and its continued operation is anticipated through 2012. Though the gold used in the manufacture of Black Hills Gold does not necessarily originate from the Black Hills area, in 1980 the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that any items sold as "Black Hills Gold" or "Black Hills Gold jewelry" must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Sources:

Black Hills Gold-Love to Know:
http://jewelry.lovetoknow.com/Black_Hills_Gold_Jewelry

Black Hills Gold Outlet:
http://www.goldoutlet.com/history.html

Beaver County Detecting Club:
http://www.beavercountydetectingclub.com/

Ruling, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit:
http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/633/633.F2d.746.80-1426.html

Goldcorp 2008 Annual Report:
http://www.goldcorp.com/_resources/2009_ar/ar08_canadausa.htm