The keycaps that came with your mechanical keyboard are probably cheap and boring. There are snazzy custom sets that can liven things up, but you can also get a single keycap that looks absolutely amazing. Jelly Key is one of the more well-known makers of so-called "artisan keycaps," and it's just unveiled the most stunning design we've ever seen--the Forbidden Realm series, which looks like a tiny world inside a keycap.
Jelly Key, which is part of Vietnamese design company Joinhandmade, began offering artisan keycaps a little over a year ago. The first designs were nowhere near as intricate as Forbidden Realm, but the offerings have gotten consistently more impressive. Some of its past caps have sold for $20 or $30, which is cheap for an artisan of this caliber. However, more complicated designs like Forbidden Realm will cost more when they launch.
Each Jelly Key keycap is literally handmade, and the materials vary considerably from one keycap to the next. Forbidden Realm uses a wood-and-resin construction, which was used on the similar (but much less complex) Oasis keycaps. According to Jelly Key, these caps are "inspired by the greatness of nature." Each one has waves of color and protuberances of wood visible in the clear resin, which makes it look like a tiny landscape.
They’ll fit on any mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX-style switches. The cap is the same height and shape as an SA row 3 cap; thus, it's slightly taller and chunkier than a regular OEM cap on the top row, which is where most people stick artisans. Still, it will instantly be the prettiest keycap on your keyboard--if you can get one, that is. There are only three of these keycaps in the world right now.
Giveaways And Group Buys
Jelly Key is in the process of giving away the three prototype caps, which are called Cloudy Cliff, Purple Valley, and Cyan Lake. Your best bet to win one is probably the /r/mechanicalkeyboards subreddit giveaway (for the Purple Valley cap), which will wrap up later today. The other two will be given away via the Jelly Key and /r/mechanicalkeyboards Discord channels.. If you win one of the caps, Jelly Key will probably follow up to make sure the cap holds up to being on a keyboard, and then it'll plan a full production run.
Some artisans make only a few caps, and you need to pray to random number generator gods to get a chance to buy one. Jelly Key runs its new caps as group buys, which means everyone orders their caps, and then the company makes the necessary number. If you don't join the group buy, you won't be able to get a cap.
The wait time for Jelly Key artisans to be shipped is usually two or three months after the group buy finishes. You'll probably pay $50-60 for one of these Forbidden Realm caps when the sale goes live. For the time being, just cross your fingers and try to win one.
