I tried on both watches and confirmed my opinions formed from pictures. I think the "bulls-eye" chrono harmonizes with the 5980 Nautilus case and looks very good. So good, in fact, that I now own one!
I had just the opposite reaction to the 5960. It has a "wacky" look. I know of no better way to describe it.
Regarding the concentric totalizer display, it is very easy to read. I also like the vertical clutch design that allows the constant running of the chronograph for a seconds hand, along with the somewhat random display of the chronograph hands at any given time while running the seconds hand.
That's my opinion!