No idea to be honest. It never was about money or value.
I had expressed concern over them not selling the black one anymore early in the conversation with the Genius. I was told that they sometimes have stock just to replace things, and that it would be checked. A bit later there was the confirmation that they would be unable to replace it with the same band I had. At that point I was asked what I wanted instead and the genius had a long scrolling list on his iPad, but since I knew what I wanted, I didn't read any of the options, and just said what I wanted.
Had it not turned out like it did, I would likely have bought the milanese loop on my way out.