UKC

Years ago I bought about half a dozen nuts from a company called Faces. You'll know if you've been climbing for a while that I mean the old Faces Gems. These were rounded off at the corners, and just seemed to fit in most cracks a lot better than most other nuts. Well, my collection of Gems has now fallen to just 1, as people I've climbed with over the years have either failed to get them out of cracks, or they've just got lost along the way.
I know Faces as a company don't exist anymore, but does anyone know where I might be able to lay my hands on some Gems again?

Cheers,

Graham

In reply to GrahamUney:

Ah Faces, or faeces as we used to call them. Saw a mate with one of their old slings the other week.

In reply to GrahamUney:
Faces Designs on Mountains (Matlock) was the third British company to produce cams in the nineties. Faces was jointly owned by Jim Ballard and his wife Alison Hargreaves, Ian Parsons and Ian Brown. Alison was a famous mountaineer. Her death on K2 and the Single European Market are probably the two main reasons why Faces went out of business. At that time, they produced nuts and cams, as Gems (or Gemstones), Pearls, Jewels, Tech Cads, Three Cam Cads, Four Cam Cads and Slugs…
There is a photograph of the Faces Gems here:
http://needlesports.com/NeedleSports/nutsmuseum/nutsstory.htm

In reply to GrahamUney:

I only have a few but I really liked them. I know some people claimed they were more difficult to remove but I never really found that a problem myself. I am surprised the design hasn't been relaunched although perhaps they would be too expensive being a more complex shape.

If you are interested in 2nd hand I think I have 4 left which don't get used any more. Condition would vary from good used to unused. I am not sure on the sizes without checking but would guess 2,4,6,7. If you are interested in possibly buying them I will dig them out and check them and get pics.

In reply to nutstory:

On your web page you say Gems kept '3 point contact'. The design of Gems produced 4 point contact, top and bottom of one face and both edges of the other.

In reply to nutstory:

Thanks for the info. Obviously I remember Alison Hargreaves and Jim Ballard, but had no idea they were partly behind Faces. That would certainly help explain why the business ended. Cheers.

In reply to BigBrother:

Hi. Yes, if they're in reasonable nick I'd definitely be interested in buying them off you. Have a look when you've got time, and email me via grahamuney@gmail.com Cheers. Graham

In reply to GrahamUney:

Thanks for your replies folks. It does seem a shame that the design has fallen by the wayside. I thought they were great bits of kit.

Cheers,

Graham

In reply to GrahamUney:
I seem to remember seeing some new old stock for sale at Amplatz sport in Canazei last year - not sure whether they still have them - they had all sorts of old oddities like super rocks amongst others...