I dunno dude, but 7-8K is a boat load of beans. That would buy you one -heck- of a rock. Seriously speaking, my wife and I went to Kessler's on the south side of Milwaukee and were very happy. Great service. I'd talk with your girlfriend/fiance about the ring (if she knows the deal) and ask what she thinks. 2-3 grand would buy an awfully nice ring and you'd have a decent car's worth of money left over. You could use the extra money for a wedding, honeymoon, house down payment, vacation, or a nice investment for your retirement together. My wife was married once before we met and she kept the $3,000 engagement ring (1.03 karat Princess cut) she had from that time. It was appraised at around $5,000 and when she decided she wanted to sell the old ring, it netted her a whopping $1,000. Resale value (not that you'd need to resell it for divorce) is terrible on diamonds if you can find someone to buy it. We researched the snot of of re-sale diamonds and waited 6 months worth of offers from dealers or reps to buy her ring too! Imagine if you were to invest that money in something you could get your money back out of. If you or her or a child needed some medical care or something and needed to sell the ring, you'd have lost probably at least half of your money you spent on the ring. I'm not trying to rain on your parade by any means. I'm telling you from real life experience. Maybe it'd be an idea worth exploring to ask her what she thinks. 7-8 grand is a ton of money.