When Madison Snider was working as a photography producer, she was a covert jewelry designer on the side, researching the diamond district, sketching ideas, and trying to determine what it would take to start her own brand one day.
Once Snider realized she had the goods to go all in on jewelry—having gained skills in sales, marketing, and social media throughout her career—she founded Fewer Finer, a brand that blends all of Snider’s passions: designing everyday gold jewelry, curating vintage collections, and doing custom work that highlights her interest in bridal and remakes sentimental pieces with a fresh look.
Her mantra in life has been “fewer, finer things”—the concept that you own a smaller number of items, but they should be of the highest quality. (Snider has a metal sensitivity that makes it challenging to wear the costume jewelry she had grown to love as a kid.)
“The style philosophy that is part of each and every piece in my collection is the one synonymous with our name: fewer, finer pieces to wear and to love every day,” Snider says. “I exclusively design pieces that my clients will love to live in for every day, rather than for big occasions. Pieces that can be part of the person, hold sentiment, and feel extremely well-made, while still being delicate.”
Based in New York and established in 2018, Fewer Finer has gained fans through its storytelling and its Instagram community building. Snider personally develops both as the founder, recognizing that she is the brand’s best ambassador.
Snider had a whirlwind of a career, from hotels to kitchens to coworking spaces. One of her favorite experiences was a year of culinary training at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland—this plus her time as a personal chef and working with the Food Network could be why she named one of her signature necklaces after a stick of butter.
Finding ways to bring her storytelling skills into her jewelry work, Snider created the popular Two Pockets Ring. It’s inspired by an idea Snider likes—that everyone should have two pockets and carry a note in each. One would have a message for when you feel discouraged: “I am the rock on which this world stands. Everything revolves around what I choose to be.” The other note is for when you’re feeling a bit haughty: “I am nothing but a grain of sand. Everything in the world is greater than me.” The Two Pockets ring has a large baguette diamond to symbolize pride, and on its other face is a small round diamond, like a grain of sand, representing humility.
“My jewelry started to become part of my identity, and I really felt sentimental towards it. My deepest love of jewelry comes from this sentimental value that each piece can hold,” Snider says.
Starting Fewer Finer was a case of “fake it till you make it” to some degree, Snider admits, as she doesn’t have the traditional pedigree like others within the industry. But her confidence was her secret weapon—she self-funded its start-up costs and has grown the business to a staff of five alongside the craftspeople who take her designs from paper to reality.
“A jewelry business was unique to start because of the cost of materials, and with type of pieces I wanted to make, it was not feasible for me to do it myself,” Snider says. “Instead, a lot of my experience with starting the brand was finding the right production team to help bring my ideas to life, learning how to run the operational side of a company, and then going out there with confidence to market and sell the pieces I designed.”
Top: Madison Snider is the self-funded creator behind Fewer Finer, a jewelry brand that she says serves a modern, casual lifestyle with elegant gold pieces. (Photos courtesy of Fewer Finer)
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