Bottom line there are those that can afford expensive watches, but don't see the value in spending 8 - 12K for a watch, when a $300 rep is a 1:1 copy minus the movement. A watch with a $50 asian movement can keep time as well as an In House luxury brand movement costing 20 times as much. There are some of us in the rep game that like the style and design of some brands, but don't see the value in spending the money on a gen every time.
My 2 cents. I have some nice gen watches, and 1 nice rep. I'm sure there are plenty of high end gen watch owners that don't see the value in an expensive car, when to them its a means to get from point A to point B.