Need your honest opinions on going brand name, and ring

Hi everyone!

Just found this forum today and have spent hours reading over diff subjects. We were hoping to get your opinions and advice on a decision we're about to make. We know that buying a loose diamond and having it set is absolutely the most cost-effective way to go on the e-ring, and you get the most bang for your buck that way. That said, we are considering going the brand name route even though we know there is a HUGE markup, for the following reasons:

1. Time. We are both super busy and don't really have the patience to deal with potential problems w/ the stone or setting. When I say don't have the patience, I guess what I mean is that we don't want to have to spend the time working with an independent/small jeweler to fix things. I've heard about and seen the amazing work of Leon Mege and Dimend Scaasi (2 that we were seriously considering), but even though MOST people have great experiences, there are those few who have issues with their rings. We don't want to be one of the few that has problems.

2. Other value adds. Going with a brand name means that we can go into the store at any time and get the ring cleaned for free, have the setting checked, have lost diamonds on the micropave band replaced for free, take advantage of their upgrade policy. If we get a Leon Mege setting and a diamond falls out, we don't want to have to pay to ship the ring to him for replacement. We are also not local to Dimend Scaasi, so same problem there.

3. Lazy? We kind of feel like going with a brand name allows us to be a bit "lazier" in the whole process, in that we save some time on research and pavement pounding knowing that at the very least the ring from a brand name store will be pretty good. We understand it won't be the absolute best, because we could find a better stone sourced loose, but we can rest assured it'll be pretty good.

With all that said, after significant haggling we have found a ring that we are interested in purchasing from Harry Winston. It's a 1.7 ct cushion cut solitaire on a platinum micropave band. The center stone is E, VVS2, polish and symmetry both VG. We saw this stone in person and it's beautiful. The final price is $28k out the door.

All of your honest opinions please! What do you think about our reasons for going brand name? We really don't care about the name itself, we're not brand whores, so the real reasons for going this route are the ones I mentioned above.

And lastly, what do you think about the HW ring? Is it more than a 50% markup if that same ring were non brand name?

THANK YOU!