I think we need to take (or at least I do) what I read on anything with a pinch of salt and sometimes a bag full. The nice galmour shots in magazines may highten my curiousity to what may look good but that's about it. The final decision for me would then be a long process of several trips down to the AD to try it on the wrist, googling the net for end user perspectives, a lot on Purists of course, talking to whom I deem a authorities in this field and then some.
In most cases, and I may be wrong, watch magazines, just like golf magazines feature and skew their reviews based on the advertising budgets of the brands and we know how objective that can be.