Introduction

If you are new to the world of artisan keycaps, I recommend reading my first article on them courtesy Jelly Key itself, which also goes over the what and why of these very custom, very niche products. That article went over two example keycaps from the Vietnamese company, and I then had a quick look article going over two others soon after. Each time I was left wondering what could be next aside from other designs and themes, but also somewhat sad I could not get readers to partake in the purchase of either. You see, Jelly Key operates primarily via the group buy method, wherein orders for a certain theme are taken for a week and those keycaps are then never made or sold again outside of second-hand sellers. Each time previously, the items arrived just past the date the group buy ended. So imagine my pleasant surprise when it was different this time around! Thanks to Jelly Key for arranging a review sample for TechPowerUp.


The Koi fish theme has been used multiple times before by Jelly Key, with the first article going over a space bar keycap that was part of the Zen Pond III group buy. There clearly is a lot of love for the Koi fish/garden concept among artisan keycap and wrist-rest makers, with another Vietnamese company doing as much recently. Jelly Key used the theme to good effect too, with what it calls the "Eden Effect" of mixing ink with resin to make for flow patterns that give a sense of realism to the various themes it has been used in. With the new Zen Pond IV series, Jelly Key aims to introduce a newer, more complex take on the Eden effect, as well as illustrate a more detailed fish model with verticality in mind.

Packaging

I covered in more detail before how Jelly Key spent more time on the actual packaging design than many companies spend on entire keyboards, and I had already seen all three sizes of the solid paper boxes used by the company, which are in turn made of fully recycled materials. Based on my previous experiences, this box here is for a 1.5u to 3u sized keycap. It has the Jelly Key logo on front and a list of contents on the side, along with a seal with contact information. Opening the packaging reveals the actual product box held in place by a shaped compartment in the solid paper packaging, and we then get a small wooden box with a rounded, smooth finish.


As always, the hand-applied seal is a nice touch with Jelly Key products, and a marketing tagline is etched into the back. Note that this is a concept prototype only. Retail products come with the entire list of contents seen before. As such, I was also told that the keycap may not fully represent the quality of finished products from the group buy, so keep that in mind as we move forward. The box opens up to reveal the keycap, presented like a gift. There is foam lining on the lid, with the actual keycap inside a thicker foam piece with a cutout to snugly hold and protect the product.

Closer Examination

Now that the group buy is open, I can share more information about Jelly Key's Zen Pond IV series. As with most such artisan keycap group buys, this series has plenty of permutations and combinations to choose from. There are five designs, each with different keycap sizes and profiles to make for a total of 175 keycaps in this series. I know I am supposed to be happy about the design updates, but knowing these finally come in SA, Cherry, and OEM profiles had me all the more excited! There is also the 1u cubic profile keycap, which I quite liked from previous group buys, one I might well consider getting for myself, too. This is because the prototype keycap I have here left me quite impressed overall.

I have here the the 2.75u SA profile R3 keycap, which is typically going to fit the R.Shift key on most mechanical keyboard layouts, aside from the likes of a 65%, 75%, 90%, or 1800 layout. It is also in the so-called Candy Shusui color, which is a misnomer as it is more of a design owing to the multiple colors. Indeed, the very first thing I saw was the use of so many colors in one keycap, and an expanded version of the Jelly Key Eden effect, with settled alcohol-based ink between resin layers making up the keycap. Before, entire sections of the keycap would be split by said inks, so the left would be one ink color and the right another, for example. With Zen Pond IV, Jelly Key has three colors that also relate fairly well to the theme and fish models in a vertical split. I particularly liked this design of the five I see on the group buy website because the fish appear to actually be swimming in the water that has ferns on one end and the body of water ending on the other.


A closer look at the keycap also reveals the second big update, which has to do with the fish models themselves. There is more detail, especially on the fins and tail depicting the fishes swimming around, and they are also no longer placed in a single vertical slice. If you know how these keycaps are made, you will realize that this is difficult since everything is placed layer by layer, with time between layers for each to settle. As if the three ink colors were not hard enough to get right without coming off horribly mixed up, doing this multi-depth approach, as would normally be the case in an actual Koi fish pond, means the artisans have to take longer to place individual models at different heights with the resin pour around them. It makes each of these even more unique than before, and the sculpting of the individual models no doubt takes longer, too. I also want to point out the Eden effect—these photos don't do how it comes off in person much justice.


As before with such artisan products, I took the keycap to my lab and placed it under the impractically expensive digital microscope that at its lowest zoom setting already was more than I needed. Seen above are even more close-up photos, if my macro lens photos from before were not sufficient, and we now get to see the keycap in more details. In particular, notice the fish scales and fins coming off in higher fidelity than before. The fins also are wavy to make it seem as though these are indeed swimming in the keycap. The mouth of the fish have whiskers and are open from the side, too; I have a nightmarish image here I chose to not include. The fish models are slightly smaller than before, but the multi-depth stacking allows for more of said models to be incorporated into the same keycap. On the bottom, a metal badge confirms this is a prototype not meant for sale, and we also have the customary etched Jelly Key logo and three Cherry MX-compatible crosspoint stems to fit on the respective switches. The three colors that make up the Eden effect and design also form the base of the keycap itself, and the walls themselves are quite thick at nearly 2.5 mm compared to typical ABS keycaps at ~0.9–1 mm and PBT keycaps at ~1.3–1.5 mm.


I used the Anne Pro 2 keyboard to demonstrate the keycap installed, which with its clean white base makes for a good supporting cast. As mentioned before, this 2.75u R3 keycap is best used on the R.Shift key. I have here the SA profile version too, which towers over the neighboring OEM profile keycaps. It is at this point that I realized the challenges of achieving the new updates in the lower-height OEM profile, let alone the even shorter Cherry profile these keycaps are offered in. Of all the themes offering different keycap-profile support, this is probably the hardest! I certainly appreciate the difficulties Jelly Key will be facing in the manufacturing stage, so keep that in mind when you go about choosing your order. To make it harder to do so, I have above some of the other options that are part of this series, including the other four colors and various different keycap sizes and profiles.

• The Zen Pond IV - God's Creation keycaps from Jelly Key are currently available under the group buy option that ends Jan 25, with no further sales planned. The keycaps are available in five colors and designs, three profiles, and eleven sizes for a total of 175 combinations that cost $91 each. There are further discounts and gifts for those buying multiple keycaps, as seen on the group buy page, which goes up to a whopping $9999 for all 175 keycaps as a set.

The group buy page has an interesting tale about these keycaps as it fits into the grander scheme of things in the Jelly Key universe. Forget the Marvel Cinematic Universe, someone give me the JKCU instead with all the tales and characters in there! On a more serious note, I realize that artisan keycaps can be a love or hate affair, with a lot of agnostic opinions between them, too. Many would not pay $50 for a keyboard, let alone a single keycap. But if second-hand prices are anything to go by, the market for these products is thriving, and this series also makes the life of Jelly Key artisans hard, as a lot of time is spent on sculpting each individual keycap by hand. Solely based on the hours spent making the keycap, the asking price seems fairly reasonable to me. If you happen to agree and the designs match your preferences, go over to the group buy page and see if there is anything you may want to add some custom flair to your keyboard, too.