Ritani EL Halo vs Whiteflash Custom with some modification

Well the time has finally arrived! My GF is in love with halo-style engagement rings and had her heart set on the tiffany rb with bead set halo, until sticker shock (18k) sent me to pricescope looking for a better ring for less $$$. I've now got it narrowed down to 2 settings, but am torn as to what to choose, so hopefully you guys can chime in with some opinions. Center stone in either case will be a 1.3ct rb (~7mm diameter) which is still being sourced from a PS vendor.

The setting she loves:
Tiffany round brilliant with bead set border

The tiffany setting (above) looks quite delicate in real life, which is precisely what she wants: A skinny (2mm) band and a thin halo which makes the center stone look nice and big, with the diamond set with a bezel and not prongs so that the girdle is flush with the halo. Too bad the tiffany name costs an extra 10k which my student budget doesn't have.

OPTION #1: Ritani EL Halo
(Seen below is a replica made by WF, but you get the idea)

This ring is a production piece, but I gather we may be able to get a few modifications we'd want done by Ritani. Namely, only having the ring diamonds go 1/2way down the finger and adding millgrain finish to the halo ring metal.

OPTION #2: Whiteflash Custom combining Tiffany + Ritani
(Imagine the Ritani, but with something like this under the halo instead of it being plain)

My dilemma: The cost for the Ritani and WF pieces is about the same (we know our local Ritani dealer well). I prefer the idea of having something surrounding the pavillion of the diamond a bit, so it doesn't look so empty and (in my opinion) strange, more like what's shown in Option #2. BUT my GF is very leery of custom made pieces as we've both seen some that look good from 1' away but up close have airlines, out-of-round halos, etc. So my questions:

* My B&M Ritani dealer cautioned me away from a custom as he said there's no way a place like WF could ever guarantee the halo being perfectly round to the same extent Ritani's production stamping could. Any truth to this? A similar point was made with regards to the Ritani piece losing small stones far less than any custom would.

* WF is not local to me (not even in the same country). I know they're pros and lots of people have been very happy with their work, but returning it will not be easy if there's anything wrong. Since what I'm considering is pretty close to the Ritani, should I just suck it up and go with the name brand so there's no surprises?

* Any input on other designer settings which look similar which I may have missed?

Thanks in advance!