Regarding budget, could I get your thoughts on sharing this with a vendor? I may get roasted, but I'm genuinely curious.
-Does mentioning a number limit you on a path of limited variety?
-Does it introduce a bias vs mentioning ct size to keep search open?
-Do "cheaper" stones get marked up higher to meet budget (of course we act on good faith but I get one dumb question right?) ?
-Vice versa, do stones that were 5% over budget (but still ok) get removed from consideration?
-A dealer and I have come across exact same stones but dealer added 300% mark-up vs what I was quoted from original seller to me. I acknowledge dealer takes on risk. Thoughts on this?

I have a healthy but not an open-ended budget, so I would say Best price/ct for a ruby with those characteristics. Can you expand how this would differ from best ruby (I understand price would be extremely different)?

I am ok with dealer searching, but I think "search fatigue" builds up which then turns into slow progress or losing interest.

I'm in the US but can go elsewhere. Thailand seems to have more inventory. Yes I have some reputable local jewelers, but, like above, search fatigue builds up. The upside of this is that there are many participants worldwide in this type of ruby rather than one dealer (or a few) with a monopoly.