Well cartridges vary enormously and there are so many bits of them to vary in stiffness, mass and add or subtract to/from the signal in their layout, from stylus shape, cantilever design, pivot design, damper material, magnetic circuit and body structure.
OTOH absolutely the only expensive, and then not -that- expensive part of cartridges is the stylus and, sometimes, cantilever.
Manufacturing precision is important and difficult and it is actually unlikley that the very expensive hand built cartridges could all be close to each other in tolerance. Maybe Ortofon and Audio Technica have the tooling to do it, most won't.
I find it the story that some makers select their cartridges and give them a name based on the performance despite them all being made to be the same entirely believable.
The only justification for a price like that is the same as the fashion business, not anything to do with designing and making it.
BTW if you like vivid, detailed and realistic Deccas (London as they are known now) are my favourite and much less expensive than that!
http://www.londondeccaaudio.com
I have a Super Gold. The older ones can be sent in for a rebuild and are highly prized because of the body structure. It has, IMO, the most logical transducer layout though as a result it is extremely sensitive to warps and dirt.