British Glitz : London Pair Open Opulent-Looking Jewelry Shop

Catherine Deneuve, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Hall, even Princess Di pose like pinup girls in pictures on the walls of Butler & Wilson, where the jewelry has a history as flamboyant as any estate worth a place on a Beverly Hills tour.

“Lily Tomlin wears this in ‘Big Business,’ ” said Nicky Butler, one owner of the store. He’s holding an elegant but eerie necklace. It’s a circlet of dismembered gold hands clasping one another.

“Princess Diana owns these.” He’s showing off a pair of regal but not real diamond-and-onyx drop earrings. Her highness also likes the slinky lizard you can pin on at the shoulder so it looks as if it’s been crawling up your back, Butler said.

Simon Wilson, Butler’s partner in this haven of glitz, is in London minding the main store. There are four outlets in England now. But, in the imperial attitude for which their nation is known, the diamant duo has just expanded to Los Angeles’ Sunset Plaza.

They design and produce their own faux gems, inspired by the greats from every period of the past, with a special feel for Georgian, Art Deco and their own eccentric version of Modern. That makes them the English counterpart of America’s famed Kenneth Jay Lane, who operates out of New York.

“The difference is, our clientele’s probably a lot younger,” Butler said. That is to say, their customer list is crammed with children of all ages. (The silver-haired Butler is wearing red-and-black sneakers.)

Michael Jackson’s first medal--the one that led to his chestful-of-medals look not long ago--came from Butler & Wilson, Butler said.

That seems to have set off a flurry of pop music shoppers at the store. Little Richard is the designated mascot of the L.A. shop. Butler wrote and asked him to do the honors. Now the flashy rocker stops in for brooches and lareatas, necklaces as large as ascots.

Elton John has already been shopping as well. He just bought a pair of red, white and blue glitzy glass flags, one American and one British, to wear on jacket lapels.

But the store’s hottest items seem to be the gemstone animals from the small menagerie of lizards and snakes, teddies and Dumbo-eared elephants that glisten with a spirit of pomp and playfulness.

Butler says he and Wilson opened their first shop 16 years ago. Earlier they had been in the antiques business, developing an eye for vintage jewelry as well as furnishings.

Each year they add about 800 new jewelry designs to the shop’s collection, Butler said. They also style accessories especially for fashion designers’ runway shows, including Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein.

Los Angeles shoppers seem to like the same things people in London do, Butler said. Men look for jewelry with a sense of humor: guitars, sheriff’s badges and flags. Women are starting to ask for the most opulent-looking items, Butler said, adding: “Usually the first thing a woman tries on is what she buys.”

His only advice on how to find the perfect piece is this: “Be less inhibited. The whole point is to have fun and be glamorous.”