re flat v. curved or dished pearls, again I don't think its a hands down yes/no.
The idea is that if you have moisture on your fingers, the dish will help you stay put. That's probably true if your fingers are in some picture perfect placement, dead center of the pearl
What I found is that maximum contact is what you want. So in fact, the flat pearl is more likely to provide that. "How?" you ask, sitting on the edge of your seat, in eager breathless anticipation of the coming englightenment?
Well, if you have your fat little fingers are sitting off the the side ever so slightly, you now have the edge of the dish acting as a kind of ridge from which you can slide or move. On the flat version, you simply have contact, no matter where you are. That's what I felt and though there is an initial kind of good feeling from the dish, it can actually serve the purpose better in a flat. Moving around often put me "on the edge" which wasn't as nice as without the dish edge.
They say a perfectly smooth tire would do better on sheer ice than a snow tire. When its ice, there is nothing to grab or grip so its just friction youre looking for. You get more of that with maximum surface area in play. Seems to be relevant up here in the NE these days. but yes its hypothetical, as its never just ice.
There, now you have the wisdom you came to SOTW for.