Yes, but that is a normal economic utility rather than the type that attaches to a Veblen good.

I had a roommate years ago who made a living selling knockoffs of expensive handbags, but who would occasionally get busted and have his merchandise confiscated. (I personally think it should be legal to sell fakes but that's another story.) Anyway he switched to buy non-branded handbags, of really excellent quality, arguably as good or better than the fashionable ones. His business went well, as far as I know, but he had to sell more units to overcome the branding 'deficiency'.

To craftsmanship, yes. To goods made by that craftsperson? Aren't they only ever a proxy for human skill and achievement? (beyond some basic level of usefulness)

A skilled stonemason these days might find him or herself doing quite a lot of work for the wealthy, creating buildings that have traditional-style features but are not good or authentic architecture. That doesn't demean the craftsmanship involved (thankfully), and keeps the skills alive, but the end product is more or less waste.

It's fascinating to me to see articles about art aficionados using advanced means (carbon-dating, etc.) to pick out visually indistinguishable fakes. If one truly loves art, I should think that looking as good as a Rembrandt would be more important than who actually held the brush.

A Veblen good, by definition, doesn't have additional value due to real craftsmanship or any other tangible characteristic. It gains value because of it's high price.

Compare this Louis Vuitton leather briefcase: http://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/products/porte-documents-v...

To this Saddleback: http://www.saddlebackleather.com/thin-leather-briefcase

8x the price but the Saddleback likely has quality on par with, if not exceeding, the Louis. Sure, the Louis is probably very well made, but that has nothing to do with the price.

You can go to the museum to see that. If you need to own it, though, it's cuz you're doing it to advertise your wealth.