There was more to Margaret Thatcher than a power handbag and a maxi can of hairspray. Alongside her Aquascutum suits, Manolo Blahniks and Asprey handbags, the Iron Lady had a penchant for jewellery and watches, and like many political leaders, used her jewels to send subtle messages. As Gillian Anderson embraces the role for Season 4 of The Crown, the show’s costume designers have paid typically close attention to the little details that made up the former Prime Minister’s uniform.

The jewels most associated with Thatcher are that 1980s staple: pearls. She was given a strand of pearls by her husband Denis (who also gave her a blue sapphire and diamond engagement ring), which she wore on her wedding day in 1951, and they remained a core part of her signature style - getting bigger and more numerous over the years.

Over the two Christie’s auctions of her belongings - one in December 2015 and the other in May 2019 - there were no fewer than 10 pearl necklaces, ranging from a simple single strand of cultured pearls to an opulent parure of pearls, rubies and diamonds that she received as a gift while in office.

The Crown’s creator Peter Morgan described Margaret Thatcher and the Queen as ‘twins who are the same’, and like Her Majesty, Thatcher was rarely photographed without at least a double strand of pearls, often accessorised with oversized pearl earrings.

Far less blingy than diamond jewellery, it’s a conservative look - these are the traditional sort of pearls associated with royalty, aristocrats and prim-and-proper housewives - but one that still remains popular with female leaders across the political spectrum. US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris calls on her ‘power pearls’ for every public appearance.

Thatcher did own more extravagant pieces. The Christie’s sales included an Art Deco emerald and diamond Chaumet necklace that wouldn’t look out of place on a Princess at a state banquet, along with a sweeping diamond-set collar necklace and lots of yellow-gold, ruby and diamond statement jewels. But when it came to business, it was strictly pearls all the way.

Then there were the brooches. Like former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, whose collection of brooches was so vast that an entire exhibition and book were devoted to it, Thatcher used the jewels pinned to her lapel to send messages.

Albright once said that “on good days, I wore flowers, butterflies and balloons, and on bad days, horrible insects and carnivorous animals,” and likewise, Thatcher claimed that her choice of brooch ‘expressed the state of her soul’.

Presumably, when she was feeling upbeat she’d reach for one of her many flower brooches: her collection included an antique diamond design made c.1800, which sold for £158,500 in 2015 (it's the brooch she wears in the official portrait that hangs in Downing Street), a large blue gem-encrusted pansy, and a Van Cleef & Arpels giardinetti brooch, the top jewellery lot of the 2019 auction, selling for £50,000.

When she was feeling flighty perhaps she’d reach for a bejewelled butterfly, or the late Victorian swallow, which also sold for £50,000 in 2015.

One of her most prized brooches, and the one she wore the day she resigned in 1990, was an elegant Art Deco chevron design made by Cartier in 1937. Apparently, the brooch belonged to a friend of the Prime Minister, who offered it to her on long-term loan after Thatcher admired it. That friend sold the brooch for charity in 2017 via Sotheby’s, where it achieved £81,250, more than four times its estimate.

On that day in 1990, Thatcher wore the Cartier brooch with pearls, of course, and two of her other most precious pieces of jewellery: a large textured gold and amethyst cocktail ring, which we see Gillian Anderson slip onto her finger in The Crown as she prepares for a day in Parliament, and a 1960s hardstone bracelet comprising pebble-like cabochons of jasper, agate, jade, chalcedony and tiger’s eye wrapped in gold. She wore both of these pieces with her famous blue suit in an official portrait taken while she was in office.

Both of the jewels were sold in the 2019 Christie’s sale: the ring for £27,500 and the bracelet for £40,000. Many believe that the bracelet made its way back to Downing Street: two months after the auction, on her own final day as PM, Theresa May was photographed wearing an almost identical bracelet.

Despite such a variety of styles and types of jewellery, when it came to the Iron Lady’s watches, they were all pretty similar – made by famous names, small, gold and quartz. The fact that Mrs Thatcher chose to wear battery-powered rather than mechanical perhaps says something of her character. A woman for whom sentiment had no place, she seems to have opted for a classic aesthetic while favouring contemporary invention over heritage and craftsmanship.

Despite many of her style choices echoing those of the Queen, in terms of watches, the two women are poles apart. Her Majesty shows a deep understanding of and appreciation for horological excellence, while Thatcher chose modern technology over tradition.

A picture posted on Instagram by Gillian Anderson shows a line-up of props for the Netflix series, including four gold watches. While one is a simple round case on a leather strap, the other three are almost identical, with square cases and gold bracelets. While the brands remain unknown, judging by the watches Thatcher is known to have owned, they are likely to be from Swiss houses of repute.

The Prime Minister was often photographed wearing the Omega Constellation – a model that was also favoured by Theresa May. As a historical footnote, documents leaked to the press in the 1980s indicating Margaret Thatcher’s top-secret plan to dismantle the welfare system, including the NHS, led to what has been described as a ‘cabinet riot’. The thwarted countdown was possibly named after her own timekeeper of choice: The Omega Project.

In the 2015 Christie’s sale, a fairly nondescript, gold-plated Rotary watch was included in a group of costume jewellery that hammered for £6,000 – 30 times its low estimate. It appears that at some point she upgraded to solid gold, with a watch of very similar styling, but this time made by Piaget. The watch was sold in 2015 for £9,375 – thanks to its provenance, nine times its low estimate. One secret that the lot did give away was Mrs Thatcher’s wrist size: 17.5cm apparently.

More glamorous and ornate than most of her other wristwatches is the Chopard cocktail watch that also sold in 2015, for an absolute bargain price of £9,375. Made by the house circa 1980, the octagonal case and lugs are set with blue sapphires and diamonds, while the bracelet is made up of three golden rope strands.

Beyond the wristwatches, one adorable, time-related objet that sold in the Christie’s auction for £21,250 was a diamond-set travel clock in the form of a handbag. Made by Asprey in 1980, the diminutive clock has a square dial framed by diamonds and a gold case set with a cabochon sapphire and more diamonds. It was gifted to Mrs Thatcher during her term as Prime Minister (1979-1990) and reveals a sense of humour not often publicly witnessed.

Despite vintage watches increasing in value year-on-year, it appears that time has not greatly raised the level of interest in Mrs Thatcher’s horological artefacts. When another tiny (23mm), gold Piaget bracelet watch with diamond bezel was sold in the 2019 auction, it hammered at £13,750. Again, the watch was similar in style to the previous pieces seen.

In addition to the Piaget, this sale saw two late-20th century clocks emerge – one a hexagonal table clock by Seiko that sold for £1,125 (almost exactly to estimate) and the other a Jaeger-LeCoultre gilt-brass mantle clock that raised £3,750.

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