It's one of the papers that lead to the buildup of Bitcoin (maybe mk can find it), the argument is made that all money is nothing more than a measure of invested time. The reason coins are ornate is partly to protect against counterfeiting, but also because ornateness implies value. Hand-carved goldsmithing simply looks valuable. When you see a piece of craftsmanship, be it a bunch of faceted diamonds in a well-tooled band or a double-tourbillon Richard Mille, you understand that it wasn't made instantly. See this guy? To you or me it doesn't look like much but we aren't within the signaling cohort. The purchasers of this watch are not trying to impress thee or me. They are trying to impress other overly-wealthy individuals that know that 4Ns are manufactured by seven master watchmakers at Audemars-Piguet over the span of four months per watch, and that there will someday be sixteen of them, but there aren't yet. 