Well gals and gents, it's come to the point and time of my life where I want to purchase a ring for my better half. I need pro tips from the more experienced members here. I'm a pretty cheap bastard and I'm limiting myself to $2000.
Discuss.
Unlike the above, I did go to Jared.
I'd imagine most chain stores have a similar policy, but Jared allows us to bring our paperwork back twice per year to have the rings cleaned, and they also perform an inspection on my wife's rings once per year - all free. They actually found a broken/damaged prong and fixed it. If they hadn't, she would have likely lost the diamond once it was loose enough to fall out. They also have a buy-back policy, so if you keep the paperwork, they can buy back the stone in exchange for a new one, if she wants to upgrade and isn't concerned about keeping the original stone.
I had a really nice experience with a very knowledgeable salesman who helped me stick to my budget (about the same as yours) and give me a basic education of diamonds (cut, color, clarity, etc.) . Rather than go for size, I opted for quality, getting a 1/2 carat diamond that was nearly perfect with only two minor imperfections. My wife had told me the type of ring she wanted (small baguette/side-stone diamonds) and we found something that I liked (and she did too, once I proposed).
My wife isn't big on jewelry and has small hands/fingers, so the smaller stone looks nice. Sure, she'd love to be able to say that she has a 1-2 carat diamond to show off, but the stone would look so gaudy on her hand and she'd always be concerned about knocking it into stuff and breaking the prongs or losing the diamond.