Post-ring window shopping

Wow, I could have been wrong about what I thought I would like.  I found myself veering more towards the simpler styles, and while I still don't care for a solitaire, I did really, really love the Hearts on Fire solitaire... the stone is so brilliant that it's best without other embellishments!  You really need to see them in person to appreciate them.

Then my girl friend took me to a place with Tacori rings.  That's when I surprised myself when I felt fond of this:

Darling!  I was not expecting to love the baguettes and the halo (okay, I kinda knew I would love the halo), but I did, and it looked excellent on my hand.

It was a 2-carat setting, which, yes, looked good on my hand, too.  But I was really aiming for 1-carat; I don't want to sacrifice quality for size, which, if I wanted to keep this within the preferred cost range, I would have to.  So I inquired about a 1-carat version to try, and the sales guy let me try on this one:
 

This is a great alternative, and look how lovely it is with the matching wedding band!

I figured that with my line of work, it wouldn't be an issue to continue wearing my engagement ring often, so it would be nice to have matching bands to wear often.

I still really like the halo, though, and the sales guy said it was do-able with a customization fee.

With the diamond itself, I am not sure what level quality I would be most comfortable with yet.  It's gotta be something I can feel proud about but also something that's not over-the-top in cost.  I have a very conservative budget in mind for the ring.

So I guess I'll keep looking for good deals.  Maybe it's time to really look into cultured/synthetic diamonds and see if it's quality is something I could be happy with.

EDIT: Maybe not, unless I change my mind about the colored stone thing and want to go with a yellow or pink diamond.

Upon further reflection of the ring question

Although I no longer feel the same strong feeling for my previously-favorite Kismet ring, I've realized that I'm attracted to Mark Schnider's curvier design sensibilities.  When I look at his collection, my eyes are immediately drawn to the following:  Vision, Escape, Kismet, Bedazzle, Swept Away (which I'm really digging at the moment), Luxury, and Cascade.  They're all kind of similar, no?  But yet not.  And none of them really strike me as "it," though maybe I'll just end up loving whatever he chooses for me anyway.