Son of Paterson and Carol Lehtonen-Riley, and founders of The Great Frog, Reino Lehtonen-Riley is a decade in to taking over his father's business as creative director of the London store. The Great Frog has been hand-making rock and roll jewellery since 1972 and had their name put on the map by the likes of heavy metal bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden who would sport their sterling skulls. From the knuckles of Lars Ulrich to Alex Turner's little finger, The Great Frog's clients have ranged from models such as Alexa Chung and Kate Moss to actors Johnny Depp and Arnold Shwarzenegger.

Since Reino took over the family role, he has taken his designs overseas and  has opened a store in New York and just last year another in Los Angeles. To mark the first anniversary of The Great Frog LA, Reino created a ring called 'LA Bones' which upon purchase the customer can receive a free crossbone tattoo combining his contemporary ideas and keeping his father's traditional Great Frog style.

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Three stores later, Reino has kept his modern touches and since collaborated with artist Wes Lang. Better known as Kanye West's merchandise designer, the collaboration  introduced four rings featuring West-Indian aesthetics including Indian chief skulls in traditional headress and reapers. The Frog/Lang collaboration launch was hosted in the Los Angeles store attended by well-known faces such as Jay-Z, who sported the solid gold ghost warrior ring.

Shortly after Reino being named "What Defines A Stylish Bike Rider" by Mens Style Fashion magazine, The Great Frog x Sons of Anarchy was due to be the next collaboration. The popular motorcycle gang, crime drama was fitting for the perfect jewellery line fit for a biker. The collection included traditional chunky reapers and 'New Skool' heavy skull rings. Like his parents, Reino works side by side with his wife who is company director of the store and together constantly host events and parties in the building. On London Fashion Week, they created an exhibition called 'Heavy Metal' where Reino's musical client's jewellery was put on show for fans to see. This included one-off commissioned pieces such as Ozzy Ozborne and Slash's rings and Arctic Monkeys' 'Death Ramps' ring. Reino keeps fans updated through his own Great Frog blog which is regularly updated with new collections and ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of your work, I'd love to know what you're working on at the moment?

Thank you! We’ve working on a lot at the moment, we’ve just launched the first of four official Iron Maiden rings which has been an incredible opportunity. We’ve released Powerslave Eddie and we’ve got the other three designs coming out throughout 2016. I’m working quite a few designs that I’m road testing at the moment which should be out over the next few months and we’ll be launching a TGF wedding collection early next year.

What would you say your biggest accomplishment since taking over the business has been?

Opening the Los Angeles store. I spent a month building and sleeping in the shop to get it ready and I’m proud of it, it has a different feel to our London store, more elegant rock and roll to suit the environment. 

 

Who has been your favourite client?

It’s hard to pick a favourite client because we really do have the loveliest customers in the world!  I loved making Kat Von D’s engagement ring, it was a real pleasure to work on and create an slick rock and roll engagement ring. I rarely do one-off commissions but I was really excited to have free reign on the design of her ring. We still get daily emails and calls asking if they can have it for their engagement ring but it was a one off I couldn’t sell it to anyone else.

 

I've always wondered, what does "The Great Frog"  mean?

The name was given by my father who opened TGF initially in 1972. It comes from a line in a comic book that struck a chord with him “The protagonist was dropping acid, his brain opened up and God came out,” and he told the character: “all the waters of the Earth are contained within the armpit of the great frog.”

 

What are your plans for the future of The Great Frog?

At the moment I’m focusing on bringing in new designs and the other non-jewellery items to the company. We’re working on some interesting lines that will be out soon!