Branding makes up for lack of knowledge, what some call connoisseurship, since it offers a security of sorts to the average buyer.

Few average buyers can identify a Savile Row suit, but most would spot an Armani because of the brand. Savvy investors buy Armani shares, then order Savile Row suits.

Anything like that happen in guns? From an English craftsman, a very well known one, I heard that an American biotechnology investor retained the best specialists to build him a collection of best guns. Unbranded. Most probably he got his money's worth way more than a brand buyer would.