No. It's not what light you use that matters in that aspect, it's how you modify the light. Lightboxes create soft, omnidirectional light that fills in the small scratches from a brushed finish, making it harder to see. It makes brushed stainless and polished stainless look much closer in texture than they really are. For a photograph, you need to be able to accentuate that difference in texture to really convey that they are different. You can have soft light that still has enough direction to show texture and fine detail simply by lighting from one side. Post work in Ps will help to bring out the detail as well. A simple high pass layer or inverted surface blur layer will help to bring out the texture of brushed surfaces. Proper positioning of the light and reflectors will also allow you to shoot a watch without getting the glare on the crystal, giving you a crisper watch face. Of course, you still need to get your exposure and colors right.
It's all relative. When you make 100k a year, a 225k watch is insane. When you make 100million a year, a 225k watch is pocket change. Beyond that, many of these are one off, hand crafted works of mechanical art which appeal to the inner gearhead of the uber rich.
The problem here is that you're thinking like someone with a limited budget.
For you it's an either or equation, for them it isn't. For the clientele that buy goods like that watch, there's no consideration given to alternative purchases; if they want it they buy it. Simple as that. Oftentimes it's not a matter of if they can afford it (because they can) it's a matter of having something exclusive to them. Something only they can own. That's why you see these "biggest yacht" competitions amongst the super rich. It's why they buy sports franchises even if they have no experience with them. It's why they'll pay a million dollars for an antique car with a unique pedigree. It's an exclusive showpiece. Why spend a million dollars on a Buggati? Because you can, and very few others can. It has a level of exclusivity that few other cars do. 
I remember being at Amelia Island one year and talking with a guy who was using a then new Hasssy H4D for a point and shoot. He didn't know anything about photography, but he knew Hassy was "the best" so that's what he got.
