I have always used Silva compasses for no particular reason other than this was the brand I was introduced to via Scouts and told they were 'the best'.
I recently came to replace my old dog-eared Silva and, having read Lyle's comments about his preference thought I'd look into the Suunto M3. I also checked the comments on this Forum and saw somewhere (sorry, can't remember who it was but maybe it was Egg?!!) that the Recta DT420G was more or less the equivalent of the Suunto so decided to check that too.
From all the info I could find, there were very few, if any, differences between the Suunto and the Recta so, given I could buy the Recta for more than £10 less than the Suunto, I plumped for that.
I agree with Egg's comments regards size and bezel and, of course, it also has extra features.
So now I'm a convert and ex-Silva user (although I'm sure the Silva is still an excellent bit of kit!).