Realization
Magic items were humankind's greatest achievement with mana. They weren't necessarily as grandiose or imposing as some pieces of technology but expressed a far higher level of expertise.
The magnitude of the achievement lay in the many fields involved in creating a single magic item. Soldiers with specific and suitable elements had to employ the most advanced technology to imbue purpose into a lifeless material, often only to obtain limited and lackluster effects. It took true experts to reliably create powerful and useful equipment, and most focused on warfare.
Those experts also set the gold standard since unreliable and barely efficient magic items weren't worth the price. After all, humans could achieve much through technology alone, so investing in something sub-par wasn't worth it.