Your response makes me laugh a bit because as far as my eye goes, I have the exact opposite viewpoint.
The left-hand crown and horizontal indices, while unconventional, yes, are absolutely what MAKE a Monaco for me. I'd go so far as to say that in nearly all cases, I think that Monacos with the crown at 3-O'Clock look BAD. It just makes the watch look horribly unbalanced in my opinion. And the horizontal indices visually fill up the negative space left by fitting a round movement in a square case in a way that the radial indices just don't do.
The Monaco has always been a watch that was not for everyone, but I feel like the original setup IS what Monaco is, and attempts to change that, via the crown position, or hour marker placement just ruin the look for me.
Each to his own, and I'm in no way saying any of that to be rude. I'm just a firm believer that they got it RIGHT (or is it left???) the first time!