Thanks Beau.
It was finished with three coats of Osmo. Cherry is a funny one, regular Cherry (without any figure) can be blotchy, so many makers use a gel finish, shellac, or spray lacquer. On figured Cherry however you actually want something with some oil content to make the grain pop, some makers go further and hit it with a dye before oiling, but to my mind that's the point it becomes just a bit too vibrant to live with.
I hear what you say about ply but no, in a solid wood piece I don't use ply for backs, panels, or drawer bottoms.
If someone buys a suit for the first time from a Saville Row tailor they'll generally be given a little introduction to all the finer points of English tailoring, so they understand and appreciate exactly what it is that they're paying for. I do something similar and walk clients through some of the elements of traditional furniture making, hand cut dovetails, rift sawn legs, Cedar of Lebanon drawer bottoms, Rosewood drawer stops, 0.5mm gaps around doors, beaded flush drawer slips, muntins, clocking the hinge screws, etc, etc.
I try and charge a viable price with three separate justifications, the furniture is made to fit your home so all dimensions and styling details are up for discussion, the furniture incorporates all those traditional details that add to the pleasure of living with it, and it's built from really special and unique timbers that you'll never find on the High Street. It's a formula that's unlikely to make me rich, but at least it keeps me well away from that race to the bottom with Oak Furniture Land as a serious price comparison!