The watch in the picture still has the protective stickers attached, the stickers give the strange appearence on the crown guards and have the 3D barcode at 9.
I have found that gently rubbing the bracelet with a cape cod cloth helps to take the edge off it. Using a medium garryflex sanding block will re apply the brushed finish if you rub to hard or have a few scratches.
I have found that a light rub with a cape cod cloth will improve the feel of the SS rep bands. This will remove some of the brushed finish, but will help to 'break them in'. You can re apply the brushed finish with a garryflex abrasive pad (or similar).
Both of these items are cheap and available on ebay.
Hope this helps.
I have the silix $100 Asian version of this watch and can confirm that it has a plastic spacer and ST6 or similar movement rather than an ETA clone, it is not 28k.
By the way the Asian version is great too!