A multi-layer cable having an unsaturated outer layer, usable as a reinforcing element for a crown reinforcement of a tire, comprising a core of diameter d0 surrounded by an intermediate layer (C1) of four or five wires (N=4 or 5) of diameter d1 wound together in a helix at a pitch p1, this layer C1 itself being surrounded by an outer layer (C2) of P wires of diameter d2 wound together in a helix at a pitch p2, P being less by 1 to 3 than the maximum number Pmax of wires which can be wound in one layer about the layer C1, this cable having the following characteristics (d0, d1, d2, p1 and p2 in mm): (i) 0.10≦d0