While I definitely see the effects of that phenomenon, such as someone I know splurging on a beautiful Damascus steel knife. Then I read through to the bottom and turns out that I was just as much part of this phenomenon with my $100 Wusthof knife.

However, in defense of my claim that it's not just bling, it's my daily workhorse knife for cooking at home, and it's the only chef's knife I own. It sees more use than any other knife I own. That said, I definitely stake some claim of my identity in my choice of brand and the knife's appearance, so it's definitely not purely functional.