I don't follow you on the Dato, but maybe is it due to the fact that I owned it for several years and that I was used to live with it?
I mean, to me, the Dato, as an Iconic watch it is, is a kind of alchimy.
Change one fo the parameters, and it will not work anymore.
When you compare the two dials, the original is unbeatable: Massive, but balanced, strong but elegant... It has been thought for the watch.
Here, you think bigger case, so bigger dial... The spaces, the volumes are not managed in the same way than the original, and the natural coherence / personality of the dial is lost.
Less impressive, more busy, more Double split than Dato, more aseptised....
The lugs are shorter on the new one, which can be easily understood, as it would not be easily wearable if the lugs were slimmer and longer on the new one, but it is a " trait d'élégance " which disappears, too.
Certainly it will please more to the new clients, than to the old school guys.
As for the Saxonia Thin, to reduce the gap between the diameter of the case and the diameter of the movement would have been a good idea.
2 millimeters less would have been good, and would no have compromised the ratio size / height too much, I think.
But I see what you mean, here.
Best,
Nicolas