I think you are missing his point - the items are desireable because of the brand. The stories, the movie stars, the songs and so on.
They don’t possess a universal, objectively valuable beauty that motivates the desire. If they did, fakes would be equally desireable and they are not.
I have a set of very expensive hand made japanese irons (golf clubs). I assure you I did not buy them from social influence or clout. In fact, nobody ever really sees them except me. I bought them because the craftsmanship and how truly beautiful they are. They make me smile.
No one is saying that beautiful things don't exist. Just that watches specifically are rarely worth $100k because of their beauty.