Jacob Elordi’s latest London outing with Kendall Jenner doubles as a masterclass in quiet luxury. While the couple’s understated date-night looks turned heads, it was Elordi’s Cartier Prive Tortue that stole the spotlight. The gold-case, black alligator-strap dress watch, with its tortoise-inspired silhouette and champagne dial, underscores his refined, logo-averse style and fuels fresh envy beyond his high-profile romance.
One of the most fashionable men in Hollywood, Jacob Elordi has a way of making luxury look effortlessly understated. In London this week, during the promotional run for The Dog Stars, the Wuthering Heights actor was spotted strolling hand-in hand with Kendall Jenner on a date night. On his wrist was an architectural silhouette that every watch obsessive will recognise and envy.
Elordi’s latest wrist flex is a classic Cartier dress watch. It is one that has been quietly making its way back into the horological conversation. And, of course, being one of the hottest couples right now comes with having excellent taste in style and making something trendy. Kendall and Jacob have plenty of it. So much so that the question of a swag gap is almost irrelevant. While Elordi donned a crisp white T-shirt over his grey trousers and a thin belt around his waist, and sunglasses and that gorgeous Cartier, Jenner kept it classy in a figure-hugging black top, a dark blue jeans, sunglasses and a red purse.
The couple have been spending time together across continents since the rumour mill caught wind of their romance at Coachella. Since then, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to study their wardrobes. Every new sighting brings another lesson in celebrity dressing.
Elordi, in particular, has largely avoided the loud-logo approach. His style favours relaxed tailoring, vintage references and clothes that look better the less they appear to be trying. The Cartier Prive Tortue operates on much the same principle. It is recognisably Cartier without screaming Cartier like a Tank would do for him. Its identity comes from its distinctive shape, not a giant logo or an oversized complication.
Elordi paired the watch with a dark, understated look, letting the timepiece do what a good watch should: sit quietly on the wrist until you notice it. His version features a gold case and black leather strap, a combination that feels particularly at home with his increasingly pared-back approach to dressing.
The Tortue is one of Cartier’s less obvious icons. Its name comes from the French word for tortoise, a reference to the rounded, elongated case Louis Cartier designed in 1912. At a time when the dominant language of watchmaking was the round watch, Cartier’s tortoise-inspired shape was deliberately different. More than a century later, that silhouette remains one of the maison’s most distinctive designs.
There is also something satisfyingly old-school about the pairing. Gold and black leather is one of the most enduring combinations in watchmaking, but on the sculptural Tortue case, it feels less like an object with a point of view. A small model with high-autonomy quartz movement, the Tortue worn by Elordi has 18K yellow gold (750/1000) case, 18K yellow gold (750/1000) octagonal crown set with a sapphire cabochon, a champagne-colored dial, gold-finish steel sword-shaped hands, and sapphire crystal. It also has a shiny black alligator leather strap, 18K yellow gold (750/1000) ardillon buckle and is up to 3 bar (approx. 30 meters/ 100 feet) water-resistant.
So, Jacob Elordi may be the man you envy for dating Kendall Jenner, but his watch is also a reason to draw your attention towards him.