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No. Don't let him spend that much. I worked as a jewellers assistant for a custom goldsmith. We did alot of high end work and I could not belive the amount of money people are dropping on compressed carbon. I think a half carot stone is a great size for a wedding ring but you could even consider another stones (sapphires are one of the few other stones hardenough to take daily abuse)
Some suggestion I would makes :
-Diamonds : Are priced on a scale by size, i.e. a 99 point stone with be significantly cheaper then a full carat (although indistinguishable to the human eye) They are priced by wholesalers accordingly and the stores prices should reflect that.
-Buy a diamond with a brillant cut and a good colour (somewhere around H ) most stones will have inclusions (small dark marks inside the diamond) if you look carefully and have a good jeweller he can find cheaper stones that have minor inclusions that will be hidden when the stone is set.
-Barter, depending what size stone your buddy is buying the jeweller will tend to make around %66 profit directly off the diamond sale for just a phone call. They will likely all use the same distributer, let them know if he won't crack his compition will.
-If you are in Canada, stay away from Polar bear diamond's. Although they are spectacular in quality they are not priced competitivly compared to a similar cut / clarity / size stone from antwerp.
Thats the easy part, unless your buddy also has a set idea for the rings style, try and choose a design they jeweller has a mold for. You will likely save several hundred if they don't need to custom make a wax for your ring. I can answer any more questions you have.
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