DO note: ALL chips worked well with the 100nF capacitor DIRECTLY across Vcc and GND.

How exactlty is the connection when you say Directly across VCC and GND. Do you mean soldering the cap right on the bottom side of DS1232 across pin 4 and 8 of XXX1232. Wont there be some length of capacitor lead even in this method. If you can please post a photo it will be very helpfull. In order to keep the VCC and GND trace length minimum will it be of any help if I don't use a mounting socket for xxx1232 and putit directly onto the board. [ I am talking about DIP IC's ].

Thanks & Regards,
Prahlad Purohit