Other examples, iPod is more expensive than similarly featured MP3 players. SONY is more expensive than other brands, etc.
We are all buying the "brand", and the quality behind tha brand. Quality is hard to quantify. For example, some new Toyota cars s*cks, have problems, too. But the buyers believe they just had bad lucks. Ford cars have good reliable cars, but whoever bought them think they are just lucky. And in the average, Toyota is indeed more reliable than Ford.
Sometimes, a good old legandary story (like the one with Italian Navy commandos) help tie the buyers and the brands. Just like people buy Apple sometimes not for the good design, but for the legandary "Apple" company/Steve Jobs.
All in all, the value of a watch can not be judged by the money and the degree of complexity of the movement/functions. For CPU, you always have the price performance to consider. For watch, it's judged by the watch aficionados. For Panerais, I guess, people should appreciate that a simple mechanical watch can be tough, reliable and accurate enough for the military use (and tested in the battlefields, too). All these are not expected 60 years ago on mechanical watches. It's a seperate issue if the following watches truly carry that legacy, but at least most Paneristis believe so
