Disclaimer: I am one of the Russell believers. I have drunk the kool-aid and it is good.
I used to have a Sargent on my VFR. It was a lot better than the stock torture device. It would allow me to ride that bike all day in relative comfort. But not all day, multiple days in a row. Then the seat became a limiting factor.
My '05 came to me (used) with a 1st gen Corbin Canyon seat. That seat was an instrument of sheer torture. I couldn't ride the bike more than an hour without lots of wiggling around. I later tried a Corbin modular seat (like the 2nd gen model) and that was much better, good for maybe 5-6 hours.
I later bought a used Rick Mayer seat for the FJR. It wasn't made specifically for me, and maybe that was why it didn't work for me either.
I finally got over the looks of the Russell and decided the ability to ride in comfort was more important than how it looks. I'll never own another road bike that doesn't have a Russell. I even have one on my V-strom which sees a fair amount of off-road use. I do think that the Russell half moon pattern is a bit less offensive looking than some of the other stitching patterns, but only just a little. Here's mine:
With all of the above said, I have heard testimony from some owners that the Bill Mayer seat is (almost) as good as the Russell day long in the comfort department, and it is not quite as offensive looking.
But you can only see the seat when you aren't sitting on it, which is really what I prefer to do. 
