Visual Description
The Ref. 78086 is a Tank Louis Cartier in 18k yellow gold, about 23 × 30 mm, with a white dial, black Roman numerals and an inner minute track, blued steel sword hands and a sapphire cabochon crown. Analog/Shift describes a mineral crystal on its examples. Some dials are signed Paris, and some carry the secret Cartier signature in the VII. Four screws secure the case back.
Reference Significance
The 78086 runs on the Cartier Cal. 78-1, a 17-jewel hand-wound movement that Lyon & Turnbull catalogs as Cal. 2512. With the ultra-thin Extra Plate 96019, it is one of the two hand-wound Tank Louis Cartier references on Archiva dated to the 1970s.
The hand-wound Ref. 96065, dated c. 1980–1990s, and the quartz Ref. 8810 share its 23 × 30 mm case size in yellow gold, so the reference on the case back is what tells them apart.
Historical Context
Dated examples run from circa 1974, as Lyon & Turnbull catalogs one, to 1981, with others sold in 1977 and circa 1980. One catalog dates an example to the 1990s, but its case number sits among those of the 1970s watches, so that date is read as loose.
What to Look For
Start with the case. The brancards should keep sharp edges, since polishing rounds them, and the case back should carry the reference and a case number under its four screws.
Then the dial: the black Roman numerals and minute track should be crisp. If the dial is signed Paris, compare the signature with documented examples, since no catalog Archiva found says where on the dial it sits. The secret signature in the VII is present on some 78086 dials and absent on others.
The movement should be the hand-wound Cal. 78-1. Most catalogs describe the watch on a leather strap with a signed 18k gold Cartier deployant clasp or buckle.
