Why are these guides so expensive? Has any used them? Are they worth it? What are they're intended applications? I just saw them and the price and was dumbfounded. Any input would be great.

The gold cermet ring is smoother than the SIC ring therefore should provide less friction from the line rubbing on the ring. Also lighter than SIC and just as strong. I have them on light baitcasting rod and love them. Only problem is they don't make very large size tips or heavy guides so for my type of saltwater fishing they aren't of much use to me.
Another poster, Mr. Sang, luckily located a set of the turbo style guides in gold Cermet somewhere in the far east that are no longer made by Fugi - he has resisted all of my offers to purchase them to date!!
If anyone reading this post has any of the older heavier fugi gold cermet guides that they would be willing to sell let me know

I may be wrong but I think the Cermet ring is a sort of metal matrix and is not subject to cracking like the ceramic rings are. I'd also guess that because the market for such a high dollar item is small, they don't make very many and without large sales numbers to break the cost down they tend to be very pricey. I have used them on 3 fly rods to date. Great guides, beautiful and the customers loved them but not many people are willing to pay 3 times the price for 1 and 1/10th the performance of the SIC rings.

Cermet is a ceramic metallic matrix. Industrial uses are coatings on machining bits and other high friction/heat environments.

Cermet will take a higher polish than SiC and therefore generates very little friction. The set that Jim K is referring to are Fuji BLRGGs with a BUGT tip. The set of 8 guides and a tip will go on a Calstar GF765M in a spiral wrap for 80# line.

The reel would be either an Alutecnos 30-2sp or a Tiagra 30wLRS, each pulling up to 25# of drag, with the targeted species being large BFT and YFT.

Those guides would be much happier living on the west coast!