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DrStrong
[Rolex Moderator]
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A Review of the Tudor Monte Carlo ref. 7159

The Tudor brand has been underestimated by watch collectors for years.  Nevertheless, the interest in some of their vintage models has been growing recently. In particular, people realize now how interesting the Monte Carlo chronographs are.  

The definition of a Monte Carlo dial is simply a two-tone dial used on early plexi Tudor Chronographs. The Tudor Monte Carlo received this nick name because of the resemblance of the dial to a roulette wheel in the gambling halls in the famous casino:

History 

The first Monte Carlo was lauched in 1970 under references 7031 and 7032 depending on the type of bezel: bakelite or a fixed metal. 7033 covers the prototype turnable bezel design seen in the new Monte Carlo re-edition. The dial has the “homeplate shaped” 5 sided lume dots and exists in a black or grey color.

The vintage Tudor 7033 and the 2010 Heritage re-edition

The 2010 Heritage re-edition and the vintage 7159

The watch is powered by a hand wound Valjoux 234 movement which is the Valjoux 23 with the date feature:

Valjoux 234 movement used in the Tudor Monte Carlo

The production of this references was stopped in 1972, so we can guess that the homeplate is a very rare watch.

From approx 1973, the next generation of the two registers arrived in 3 flavours: 

- 7149/0 Bakelite bezel. Blue or Black dial
- 7159/0 Fixed bezel. Usually black/grey dial.
- 7169/0 Turnable bezel design. Black or Blue dial

Again, these watches were only produces over a very short time period and we can guess that the production numbers are much lower than the Rolex Cosmograph for example.

The Watch in Detail 

My watch is a 7159/0. It is characterized by a massive 39mm case with a brushed finish metal bezel.

The winding crown and pushers are identical to the Rolex Cosmograph of the same era, but the watch is larger:

The thick crown guards surrounding the winding crown add to the character and bulkiness of the case:

The cyclop on the plexi is usually seen at three o clock on the Submariner to magnify the date. It is located at six o clock on this watch and to my eyes it gives a lot of vintage charm to the piece. It also sort of balances the dial, which has the metal shield on top and the two subdials on each side.

The flat caseback has the specific “Tudor by Rolex” engraving:

The dial is very colourful and has a lot of nice 1970’s details to look at. This is the main difference between the Tudor Monte Carlo and the Rolex Cosmograph, which had a much more classical and conventional design.

The bracelet is a folded Rolex Oyster ref. 7836, that is also used on the Rolex GMT master.

Documents

Here are some original brochures showing some Monte Carlo models. Their design prove that these watches were aimed at a younger clientele than the Rolex models.

I can feel a real sense of humor here….do you feel it too ?

Acknowledgements: Morgan King, Aakviper

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