There is a certain segment of people with the means for whom this is wrist jewelry, like the female segment that pays multiples of retail for must-show high-end handbags.
Since this category of men generally don’t carry handbags, they instead wear a difficult to obtain Rolex, Patek or AP steel piece so they can signal whatever these high-end handbag carrying women signal.
I just think of it as handbags for men, and I don't see anything wrong with it as it is their money they are spending.
The irony of course is that those of us who purchased a Nautilus, AP Jumbo or Daytona back in the day before the current craziness find it a little challenging to wear these watches in public out of concern for how we’ll be perceived and for our safety in public spaces given the high awareness of these pieces amongst our less law abiding citizenry.
All my Nautili were generally sitting in dealers display cases unloved about a decade ago and the ADs were overjoyed whenever I bought one of these.