Single Path Ribbons

Okay, so... I created these ribbons using one single illustrator circular path and added all the detail by adding multiple appearances to that one path.

I was wondering... how many people use illustrator the same way I do? Would you have done all this with one path, or would you create it using multiple circles, gradients and textures on separate layers?

As I see it, the only real benefits to working this way are:
1: You can create graphic styles of the final product
2: To edit a piece of the artwork, you only need to select the whole piece instead of browsing through layers, or using the direct selection tool.

Thoughts?