What's "silly" about speeding up the natural process of the earth? It's no more silly than spending more money for the same over inflated piece of coal just because it got dug out of the ground instead.
The irony of CZ is that the way you can tell it's fake, is because it is TOO perfect. "Hey this thing is bigger, brighter, better color, and nicer in every way than this other diamond. Definitely don't want that, it's a
fake" At least with a CZ you only pay it's true value. A real diamond is worth about the same, but costs 8000% more because marketing.
As for OP. It's an unfortunate societal expectation that we have to spend money on these things. But since we have to, might as well get the best price and value. So whatever your budget is, go to bluenile.ca You won't get cheaper anywhere else. Prices jump up quite a bit as soon as it is above 1.0 carats. Getting a .96 carat will save money, and nobody would know the difference.
I can't believe there is guys that bring their girl ring shopping. It's good to get a barometer for what cut and style she likes, but no way does she ever need to know what you spend on a ring.
Ditto. No sense getting a clarity better than what the human eye can see for imperfections. Her GF's aren't carrying loupes around in their purse to inspect rings under scrutiny. And color just good enough to not see yellow. Staying under that magical 1 carat weight. But splurging a bit on good cut. All things to keep the cost down but still get something that looks great.