You won't find many manufacturers (if any) that use jewels in the movement for anything other than efficiency purposes. Rubies are actually one of the most low friction natural materials known to man, so watchmakers have been using them in movements for a long time.

Only recently have we started seeing more advanced materials/alloys being used in lieu of Rubies.

I think you may be referring and responding negatively to decorative watches found in fashion stores typically sold for a few hundred dollars. The mechanical watches discussed here and in the original article are in a different universe.

Woah, you don't know much about watchmaking do you? Can you name one single respected watchmaker that adds jewels to increase "jewel count"? Hell, not a single haute horology house advertises how many jewels they have in their movement. They simply label it, and you won't see it in any marketing material because it's irrelevant.