I am not familiar with this actual chip, but the normal things with Dallas/Maxim chips are:

1. Supplying Vbat
2. Clearing the CH bit in the Seconds register.
3. A good XTAL on X1,X2

Now that you can write reliably to the chip:

4. attach LED + resistor to SQW pin on chip.
5. set SQWE, OUT and clear RS0,RS1 bits in register 7 so you get a 1Hz output.

Points (1), (4), (5) do not apply to your chip. So you can only do (2), (3).
You should also clear WP bit in your register 7.
If you have an oscilloscope you could check X2 with a x10 probe.

Personally, I would also try the oscillator circuit with no capacitors at all.

David.