I saw a beautiful rod but the "flex coat lite" wraps freaked me out, this was from an established maker with above average finishing. Many people wouldn't notice but to my eye it was a disconnect, to others it was terrific.
It's safe to say many people have different tastes and there is no right way to build a rod but challenge yourself to be true to your style, to search out nuances that make a rod unique. I think the trick is a multitude of nuances that collectively give you a style, not one in your face adornment. Do we need wood spacers from south of the equator when we live in a country surrounded by trees? Who knows, I'll keep searching, asking, dissecting photographs like a forensic scientist and staring at as many rods as I can find. Like George Maurer liked to say, "Do you want to be a cook or a chef?"