Black Hills Gold Info
What is Tri-color Black Hills Gold jewelry?
Copper is mixed with gold to create a pink colored gold while mixing sterling silver with gold results in a delicate green color. These two “colored golds” are traditionally used for the leaves and regular yellow gold is used for the main body of the jewelry, hence the term Tri-color jewelry.
Landstroms Black Hills Gold History
Landstrom’s is the first and genuine Black Hills Gold manufacturer. Landstrom’s roots date back to the Black Hills Gold Rush. On July 27, 1874, a miner in General George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry named Horatio N. Ross found the first gold twinkling in French Creek in the Black Hills.
Then, in 1878, S.T. Butler, trained by Black Hills pioneer and prospector Henri LeBeau, opened the first Black Hills Gold jewelry manufacturing store with his son, George M. Butler in Deadwood, South Dakota. In 1919, the company was divided into two companies, the F.L. Thorpe Company and the Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company.
In 1944 Ivan Landstrom bought the Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company and in 1995 Black Hills history went full circle when Landstrom’s acquired the F.L. Thorpe Company making Landstroms the sole owner of all the original Black Hills Gold designs!
Located in the rich, historic Mount Rushmore area, Landstroms has been making the best Black Hills Jewelry to be found in South Dakota from the beginning!
Making Black Hills Gold Jewelry
Answers To Some Common Questions
By Federal law, any piece of jewelry bearing the description “Black Hills Gold” must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Traditional Black Hills Gold designs are typically comprised of rose colored and green colored leaves and gold grapes and grapevines.
Rose-colored gold is made by alloying copper with gold, and green-colored gold is made by alloying sterling silver with gold.
A Karat is a unit of measure for the pureness of gold, equal to 1/24 of the total amount of gold in an alloy. Thus, 24k is pure gold. A Carat is a unit weight for precious stone, equal to 200 milligrams.
Landstrom’s Black Hills Jewelry is traditionally 10 karat with 12 karat leaves. Some products such as wedding sets are 14 karat gold. Sterling silver products are accented with 12 karat leaves.
All Landstrom Black Hills Gold Creations are covered by Landstrom’s Lifetime Limited Warranty against defects in materials and workmanship.
Landstrom’s recommends a thorough scrubbing with a soft brush and mild soap followed by a warm water rinse and drying with a soft towel. Click for a great article about cleaning your jewelry.
All Landstrom’s jewelry bears the following manufacturer’s marking:
Other registered trademarks in the Landstrom’s “family” include:
BH GOLD JCO
BLACK HILLS GOLD JCO
and the F.L. Thorpe brand marked with:
