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 ’s Papa Emeritus, ’s 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.
Graphic Nature frontman Harvey Freeman has spent a lot of time here over the years. “I used to come to the store and be like, ‘Wow..
. what the hell is this?!’ It was a place just for people like me. It sold big, chunky jewellery that was all really dark.
Back in the day, you had people outside drinking beer; they clearly did not give a fuck. I was like, ‘I wanna work here.’” Harvey currently works for The Great Frog, albeit at their East London branch, in shipping and packaging.
His wife, George, has worked right here at the original Soho store for the last decade. “We have a manager above us who’s a massive Graphic Nature fan,” Harvey says. “It really helps with getting time off.
” That will have come in useful recently. Since they formed in 2019, Graphic Nature’s mix .
