But, sophistication takes time, sometimes generations, and parents/grandparents to teach you how it was done in the past and more importantly why it was done that way. I can tell a young boy or girl, "you must always eat caviar with a horn or mother of pearl spoon" but if I don't tell them WHY, they'll never appreciate the gravity of importance that statement is.
With the prolific amount of new wealth, the newly monied demographic alone is already more than abundant enough to support these luxury goods companies. Many of these individuals have the means, have seen the marketing, but don't really understand why Patek Philippe (or any other brand) is so special and superior. They buy because they hear that Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin are "The Best" and yet don't understand WHY they're the best. And for those of us like you and me who actually research "WHY" we realize that there are better, like Voutilainen and Dufour. So, when you have that large of a demographic of new-to-watches people who can already consume the entire output, why bother competing with the other brands to be better nor educating the consumer? Educate them too much about movement finishing and those who care end up buying something like a Dufour. So, strategically, if I were the marketing at any company I would come up with some catchy slogan, like "you never actually own it, you merely take care of it for the next generation..."