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It's entirely possible your pick is not subject to CITES as it is tortoise shell, and not from much coveted Hawksbill Sea Turtle.
As recently as 2000, you could buy unworked sea turtle shell at the Cayman turtle center in Grand Cayman. Nowadays I don't think they sell anything. The last time I was there I bought a bunch of pick blanks for around $1.00 each. Over the years I lost most of them or gave them away because I really preferred a dunlop 207 to any other pick. I also repurposed tortoise, obsidian and amber bakelite that I found at flea markets, junk shops, etc into picks. I like the amber bakelite, obsidian not so much - too brittle. If you soak a tortoise shell pick in olive oil for a couple of weeks once a year it won't get brittle, and if you polish the bevel smooth every time you use it it won't wear away. A polished surface doesn't erode the way a rough surface will and it sounds better, too. I always used extrafine emery cloth or one of those three sided fingernail buffers (works great!) to polish my picks.
Once a year, submerse the pick in olive oil for 2 full weeks? What do you think of one day a month? Comes out to about the same amount of time per year?
I'm getting "...but EVH boiled his things and dipped his pickups in wax!" vibes...
Please take that advice with as many grains of salt as you wish. Francis Moerman told me that both Sarrane Ferret and Djouan Malha both treated their picks this way. Francis had some tortoise picks that were very old, 20+ years. I did it with all my tortoise picks - did it make them better? It certainly did not make them worse and I never chipped, cracked or broke one. And they did have a nice feel to them when I took them out of the bath.
Yeah, it is funny on that. Here's an excerpt from the Blue Chip web site: "For years, tortoiseshell picks have been the gold standard. But natural turtle picks have a number of shortcomings. First and foremost, it’s illegal it buy or carry anything but fully documented “antique” tortoise across state lines. Hawksbill turtle (which is what tortoiseshell picks are made of) is a protected/endangered species."
So, yeah, I guess it is when is a tortoise not a tortoise?...but, yes, it is entirely plausible that it is from a different species! Let's hope so, at least. It just wouldn't be the material that everyone swears was the best pick ever from 50+ years ago that Django used, etc.
Killy G in jade. Beautiful pick, well made. For me, I can't play lines with it at all. The tip is so bulky and rounded all the way around that I have a difficult time effectively striking the string and resting on the next string with any speed at all. Just not for me. But, for rhythm, it is spectacular. Very deep and full sound. I can see how others might love this pick for everything. Maybe I have just spent too much time playing with the tear drop shape in thickness of 2mm or less which lets me play rest strokes very fast and accurately with maximum comfort. The other picks I use are more flat and they land on the next string flat which makes rest strokes much easier for me. Just my humble 2 cents.
My Killy Nonis "Acker" pick (black) has a very pronounced right-hand bevel (that works for lead), which seems very different from yours. Perhaps there's a reason the bevel is different - or maybe he could re-bevel it or replace it.
After putting in lots of hours with the picks I have to say that the CvH is my favorite. The sound is absolutely amazing. This could be the result of my guitar or my technique. So, I have a brand new **** 2.9, pictured previously, a barely used Wegen GJ 3.5 and a couple other picks that are up for trade if anyone has a CvH. Send me a message and I will send you a picture of what I have. Blessings
Matthewkanis, is your CVH pick 2.0mm or 2.5mm? (Apparently both are possibilities.)