More than 50 years since it opened, Soho jewellery store The Great Frog still bursts with heavy metal energy, literally and metaphorically. The walls of this narrow, three-storey shop are lined with glass cabinets, each full of rings and pendants shaped like skulls, eyes and fleurs-de-lis. Upstairs, more cabinets are crammed with rings shaped like Ghost’s Papa Emeritus, Iron Maiden’s Eddie and Motörhead’s Snaggletooth mascot.
This central-London institution has long been a favourite destination of passing rock stars. Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy have bought jewellery from The Great Frog. Late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton got a pair of signet rings here in the mid-80s, subsequently worn by James Hetfield.
