I get the feeling that the latest generation of Zeiss products, whilst still very good are not as good or as well made as they used to be. The american ones are made to a price. The old Zeiss 4x32, 6x42's etc were fantastic. Certainly my 7x42 BGAT binoculars are wonderful, but I wouldn't buy the latest generation of Zeiss bino's - I would go for Svarovski or Leica.
In terms of scope I would lean towards the Schmidt & Bender. In terms of reticle - I like the German No 4 style with heavy outer posts and fine central wires. I have one in my Meopta (again a very good brand) and even at last light still can position easily enough, when there is still enough light to positively identify what I am shooting at. The only reason that I bought the Meopta is that i have low mounts on the Heym and the Meopta was the only one that fitted and didn't touch the barrel etc. It came with a Zeiss 4x32 but for hill shooting wanted a 6 power - I stupidly sold the Zeiss as it was a brilliant scope and would have been very useful for woodland stalking.
Illuminated reticles I have used in the past. Would I buy a scope with one - don't know, but if it was one or the other I would rather spend the money on better optics, than illuminated reticle.
I suppose at the end of the day if you took a Khales, Svarovski, S&B, Doctor etc and scratched off the names you would have a hard job to tell between.