It’s no secret that the modern watch market is the most colorful the industry has ever been. Vivid, unique color palettes permeate every corner of the market these days, but while we’ve seen immense diversity in color, the actual visual differentiation between these models is slight. This wasn’t always the case, though. At the height of the ‘70s, watchmakers often used both color and bold graphic design to dramatically alter the look and feel of a basic watch design, creating some of the most striking sporting designs ever made. Among these graphic-heavy chronographs, few can equal the classic Tudor Monte Carlo, and this particular circa 1972 Tudor Oysterdate Monte Carlo ref. 7159 is a masterclass in just how transformative simple line work and color blocking can be for a watch design.

Ironically, the Tudor Oysterdate Monte Carlo ref. 7159’s case is one of the strongest arguments for the transformative power of its graphic dial. The Monte Carlo is a true old-school Tudor, hailing from the era when the brand shared more than a handful of components with its sister brand Rolex. Although this 40mm wide stainless steel case is not an exact copy of a contemporary Daytona (note, for example, the unique squared-off crown guards in an era where the Daytona sported an exposed crown), it’s clear that the lines of this sports chronograph design are more than a little inspired by the output of its larger stablemate. The chunky screw-down pushers, wide-set, tapering chamfered lugs, and the brushed, engraved tachymeter bezel are all classic Rolex elements, but despite the family resemblance the Monte Carlo doesn’t immediately read as a Daytona variant on the wrist. Even with a familiar five-pointed crown emblem on the 3 o’clock crown (and another on the familiar Oyster bracelet clasp), this watch feels very much like its own beast, thanks to a dramatically changed dial.

While a simple dial color swap or even a unique panda treatment might have doomed the Tudor Oysterdate Monte Carlo ref. 7159 to a historical footnote among collectors, this bold, blocky, and colorful dial treatment earns it a place in the classic chronograph pantheon. Beyond distilling the three-register Daytona layout into a two-subdial format, the ref. 7159 visually alters the balance and silhouette of the dial substantially. The most obvious example of this is Tudor’s use of black. Both the 3 o’clock chronograph minutes and the 9 o’clock running seconds display aren’t simply rendered in black, they’re framed by it, surrounded by distinctively bent trapezoidal forms that connect directly into the black outer seconds scale. Not only does this powerfully highlight the watch’s timekeeping elements (particularly the orange-accented chronograph components), but it also visually separates the dial into two irregular geometric halves. The stylized barbell shape left by the medium gray main dial surface then becomes both a quiet neutral backdrop, and a visual calling card for the Monte Carlo line as a whole. Few watches, especially chronographs, can be identified from across a room as easily as this.

In addition to the literal graphic segmentation of the dial, Tudor also heavily leans on implied graphic segments divided by color. Look no further than the bold, vivid orange numerals of the outer seconds scale. While these do not fully separate the scale into twelve individual blocks, the at-a-glance effect is the same. The split scales of the 45-minute chronograph subdial (optimized for timing soccer matches) use this principle a bit more aggressively. While there’s no literal break in the arrangement of minute markers, the overall ring is clearly separated into three segments, each of which is further split into thirds. The only element here that doesn’t directly serve the mix of aesthetic punch and utilitarian legibility in this graphic dial layout is the cyclops-equipped date window at 6 o’clock, and even this slightly mismatched element serves to further differentiate the Monte Carlo from the no-date Daytona models of the era.

Of course, not all of the Tudor Oysterdate Monte Carlo ref. 7159’s graphic touches are due to flourishes by the designer. Much of the reason for this geometric, multicolored approach springs from Tudor’s choice of movement. Even for the time, the hand-wound Valjoux 234 was an unusual movement, sporting both a rare 45-minute chronograph totalizer and an intermediate (for the time) frequency of 21,600 bph. Although it replaced the venerable Valjoux 23, the 234 was a relative rarity, starting production in 1974 and mostly phasing out by the end of the decade. Other than Tudor, the only other major adopter of the movement in the period was Enicar, with some additional re-badged appearances with Wakmann, Mathey-Tissot, and others. In other words, to give wearers the most of this unusual movement, Tudor had to ensure that the Monte Carlo’s quirks were visually unmissable during wear.

While it may not be the right application for every sports watch, there’s no denying the colorful, geometric graphic-forward design philosophy behind the Tudor Oysterdate Monte Carlo ref. 7159 left an impact. When Tudor rebranded itself in 2010 as a heritage-focused sporting marque, it chose this watch to be the face of its new efforts a full two years before the launch of the fan-favorite Black Bay diver series. At a time when brands across the industry (and Tudor itself especially) are launching more color variations than ever before, but struggling to truly differentiate them, the Tudor Monte Carlo is proof that a memorable graphic dial design can elevate a parts-bin design into an all-time enthusiast classic.