I'm well aware of the costs of a Rolex (and most watch brands, I'm a watch enthusiast). You can pick up a Rolex for a few thousand pounds in Britain. New, they start at around £4000ish. Gold watches in general cost a lot more, especially if they have a gold link bracelet, and you're right that Edition is priced fairly competitively.
A stainless steel Rolex is, whilst quite a bit of money, affordable if you decide that you want it. I don't live in a major city and yet I'll still see a few on the wrists of people if I take a trip around town. Edition, however, would be quite a sighting - similar (in terms of required wealth), in my opinion, to seeing a complicated Patek on a wrist. (Whilst the prices are different, I'm saying this because of the upgrade issue, i.e. a £100K Patek will last many lifetimes, a gold Edition will be useless in less than 5 years).