Cartier · Tank Louis Cartier

Tank Louis Cartier, Extra Plate, Guilloché Dial

Ref. 96065 · c. 1980–1990s

The Cartier Tank Louis Cartier Ref. 96065 is a 23 × 30 mm 18k yellow gold hand-wound Extra Plate made c. 1980–1990s, powered by Cartier Cal. 96 based on the Frédéric Piguet Cal. 21, with a silvered guilloché dial.

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Specifications

Reference
96065
Extra Plate (ultra-thin), 18k yellow gold, manual-wind, guilloché dial
Year
c. 1980–1990s
Estimated from documented examples; dealers date individual watches from 1980 to the 1990s and Phillips catalogs c. 1980s
Movement
Manual-wind
Cartier Cal. 96 based on the Frédéric Piguet Cal. 21, 18 jewels; some catalogs simply call it Cal. 21
Case
23 × 30 mm, 18k Yellow Gold
Dial
Silvered guilloché
Painted black Roman numerals, railroad minute track, Cartier signature at VII
Hands
Blued steel
Sword-shaped
Crystal
Sapphire
One dealer lists sapphire and another lists mineral; check the individual watch
Strap
Leather
18k yellow gold tang or folding buckle; sapphire cabochon crown

Visual Description

The 96065 is a slim, rectangular Tank Louis Cartier in 18k yellow gold, about 23 mm wide and 30 mm long. Its brancards are the classic Louis Cartier form, and European Watch Co. measures the case at about 5 mm thick. The dial is silvered and engine-turned, with painted black Roman numerals, a railroad minute track and the Cartier signature at VII. Blued steel sword hands cross it, and a sapphire cabochon sits on the crown. Most examples are on a leather strap with an 18k gold buckle.

Reference Significance

The 96065 is the guilloché-dial Extra Plate. Phillips describes it as the successor to the 1970s Ref. 78086, with a thinner case and a guilloché dial in place of the earlier dial. It runs a Piguet-based movement: Phillips catalogs Cartier Cal. 96 based on the Cal. 21, while Menta Watches and Bulang & Sons name the Cal. 21 outright. That movement is why the watch sits in the dress-watch tier of the Tank Louis family.

Archiva's other Extra Plate, the 96019, has its own page. The two overlap in years and share a movement family, and the 96065 is the one that turns up with a silvered guilloché dial.

Historical Context

Dealers date the 96065 across more than a decade. Craft + Tailored sold examples dated 1980 and 1984, Phillips catalogs c. 1980s, and Amsterdam Vintage Watches, AWCo and Bulang & Sons place others around 1990. Archiva publishes c. 1980–1990s and does not narrow it further. Sources do not give a production count.

The reference is traded steadily by specialist dealers and appears at auction now and then: Phillips Hong Kong sold one in its Spring 2025 online sale, offered without a reserve and with a service dial.

What to Look For

Start with the case back and confirm the reference, then the movement: a hand-wound Cal. 96 or Cal. 21 with 18 jewels. A quartz or other replacement movement changes the watch entirely. The case is thin by design, so heavy polishing shows up quickly as soft brancard edges and faded hallmarks; Menta Watches highlights an unpolished case as a selling point, and Phillips pointed to strong hallmarks as a quality sign.

Look hard at the dial. The guilloché should be crisp and even, the numerals sharp, and the Cartier signature at VII intact. Cartier supplied service dials for many Extra Plate watches, and the Phillips lot came with one. Check the crown (a sapphire cabochon), the crystal, which dealers list as sapphire in one case and mineral in another, and the buckle, which should be 18k gold if the watch is described as complete.

Known Variants

Documented dial, case, and bracelet variations of Ref. 96065.

Silvered Guilloché Dial

The standard configuration: a silvered, engine-turned dial with painted black Roman numerals. Phillips, European Watch Co., Bulang & Sons and AWCo all describe this dial.

c. 1980–1990sPrimary documented variant

Flinqué Dial

Craft + Tailored sold a 1980 example with a flinqué (finely engine-turned) dial under this reference, with box and papers.

c. 1980Documented in one dealer listing

Platinum Bracelet

Amsterdam Vintage Watches listed a c. 1990 96065 on an unsigned platinum bracelet with red-brown numerals, a configuration the dealer says it had not seen on another full-size Tank. Treat as a single-source variant.

c. 1990Single source

How to tell it apart

What separates a Ref. 96065 from its neighbors, and what to check before you buy or sell one.

What is a Tank Louis Cartier Ref. 96065 worth?

Public auction and dealer results from October 2023 to October 2026 for the extra plate 18k gold manual wind Tank Louis Cartier, which includes Ref. 96065, come to $8,450 to $10,700, median $10,450 across 7 sales. The most recent was $10,450 at Spangaro & Co in April 2026. Condition, service history, and the original box and papers move an individual watch within that range.

What is the Cartier Tank Louis Ref. 96065?

An Extra Plate (ultra-thin) Tank Louis Cartier: a 23 × 30 mm 18k yellow gold case with a silvered guilloché dial, black Roman numerals and a hand-wound Cartier Cal. 96 based on the Frédéric Piguet Cal. 21. Phillips describes it as a successor to the 1970s Ref. 78086, with a thinner case and a guilloché dial.

What movement is in the 96065?

A hand-wound, 18-jewel Cartier Cal. 96 based on the Frédéric Piguet Cal. 21, which Phillips describes as the thinnest manually wound movement on the market for almost two decades. Menta Watches, Bulang & Sons and AWCo name it as the Cal. 21 directly, so expect either label.

How do I tell the 96065 from the 96019?

Both are Extra Plate Tank Louis watches on Piguet-based movements. The 96019 listings Archiva documents carry a white painted dial with Cartier Paris at 12 and date to the 1970s and early 1980s, while the 96065 listings carry a silvered guilloché dial with the signature at VII and date from 1980 into the 1990s. The reference on the case back settles it.

How do I tell the 96065 from the 78086?

The 78086 is the standard-thickness 23 × 30 mm manual-wind Tank Louis on the Cartier Cal. 78-1 and dates to the 1970s. The 96065 uses the thinner Piguet-based movement and, per Phillips, a guilloché dial in place of the earlier dial.

What dates do dealers give for the 96065?

They disagree. Craft + Tailored dates examples to 1980 and 1984, Menta Watches and Phillips say the 1980s, and Amsterdam Vintage Watches, AWCo and Bulang & Sons say about 1990 or the 1990s. Archiva publishes c. 1980–1990s and treats single-watch dates as estimates.

Does the 96065 come with a service dial?

Some do. The Phillips Hong Kong lot included a Cartier service dial alongside the dial fitted to the watch. Ask whether the dial on any 96065 is the original or a service replacement, since it is the main visible difference between examples.

Specialist dealer

A dealer who handles Ref. 96065

Alex Stevens Vintage

Founding Dealer

Curated vintage watches with a focus on Cartier and military timepieces

London, United Kingdom
Est. 2015
In-house inspection
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Tank Louis Cartier, Yellow Gold, Quartz

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Tank Louis Cartier, Paris

18k Yellow Gold · c. 1974–1981

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Tank Louis Cartier, Yellow Gold, Quartz

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Ref. 96019

Tank Louis Cartier, Extra Plate

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