I finally told someone their fancy gold leaf repair looked cheap

At a friend's dinner party, they proudly showed me a restored family bible they paid a lot for, covered in bright gold leaf on the spine. Everyone was oohing and aahing, but I had to quietly say I think using real gold leaf for that kind of daily use book is a bad choice. It wears off too fast and the fake look of the bright gold takes away from the book's real age and character. Am I too stuck on using materials that last?