In the mid-to-late 19th century there was a high demand for items made from the shell of the sea-going Hawksbill Turtle. It's shell had proerties that made it very desireable to the touch. It was warm and comfortable. It just plain "felt good" to the touch. It was immune to static charge. That's why so many items made from it were items that were held close to the body. Ladies' hair combs, knitting needles and fountain pens were but a few of these items made from the shell of the hawksbill turtle. The problem was that the shell material was difficult to come by and therefore very expensive. An alternative was sought out. A new material was formulated from a dairy by-product and this new material fit the bill very nicely.

For almost 40 years John Greven has toiled to find the perfect substitute for tortoise shell picks. This material fit the bill very nicely. After all, it was a fine substitute for the real thing back in Victorian times, so why not now? This is different than the material he uses for his pick guards, or for the picks he once made. This material is a polymerized animal protein that is very close chemically to real turtle shell. You could look at it as cultured turtle-shell. Many people who have tried picks made from this material cannot tell them apart from the real thing.

 
Since John is so very busy building his fine guitars, we have taken over his pick-making business. Neither he nor the company "Turtle-Works" are making these picks. They make pickguards. Red Bear Trading Company is the sole manufacturer of these picks. We call this material "New Tortis" to distinguish it from the Tor-Tis that is used for pick guards.