[CydeWeys]

This is overly cynical. The target demographic for a really complicated Vacheron Constantin is a rich person who is a HUGE nerd about watches. Think about people who get into really high levels of nerd hobbies and acquire super expensive gear. It's not primarily about showing off.

[ehnto]

Not that I am wealthy enough to participate, but you see the same thing in cars and the same issue too. Sometimes status signalling and taste end up in the same product, and people who don't care about cars end up with the finest of the cars, almost coincidentally.

[TheOtherHobbes]

If it was about the nerdery the watches wouldn't be sold with huge margins through a rarefied dealer network located in exclusive shopping locations.

This is an item of jewellery, not a high-end custom PC.

[mlyle]

I'm not sure buying the super fancy handbag is primarily about showing off, either, and I think people who consume a lot of these goods have a lot of brand knowledge.

I mean, I think you're right in that watch nerds usually have more domain knowledge, but I don't think it's inherently dissimilar.

[euroderf]

What's "hobby" about it? Is the owner going to open the watch and make modifications as a weekend avocation?

[Y-bar]

Just like those collecting stamps, figurines, comic magazines, paintings and so on the watch hobbyist pretty much _never_ makes modifications to their items. Why do you consider it a requirement for it to be a hobby?