My son has asked me to help him purchase an engagement ring. He has a friend who purchased a 2 carat platinum ring at Macy''s believe it or not. The ring started out at $12,000 but sales and coupons brought it down to $4200. I expected to see the ring and think it was awful, but a quick inspection really surprised me and went against everything I thought I knew about buying a diamond. Supposedly it is a "G" color and an S12. There is no information about the cut but it did look clean and sparkly. So my dilemma is this....first off does anyone know what kind of diamonds a chain like Macy''s would sell? I am assuming it must be clarity enhanced....But more importantly, I would like to convince him that he is making an investment and should try to purchase a stone from a vendor where he can get some detailed, reputable information about the stone. From my quick perusal of the site and his budget of about $6500, would he be able to get something decent in a 1.5 to 2 carat range that would be eye clean and beautiful? Must admit, I see a lot of "J" colors and I would be afraid they would be too yellow. When my diamonds were purchased, we never even thought about cut and I have a large VS2 "dead" diamond to prove it!!! Also, his future wife worked in a jewelry store while she was in college so I think she has a good eye. However, this store is tremendously overpriced and even with a discount I doubt he could get a stone over one carat for that price....I think she would sacrifice a fancy setting and lesser clarity for a larger sized stone but I also know if there were visible includions they would bother her. Sorry, if this rambles. I will dearly appreciate all advice from the experts on this forum.