Introduction

If you are new to the world of artisan keycaps, I recommend reading my first article on them, which also goes over the what and why of these very custom and niche products. We’ve since covered a lot of different artisan keycaps, predominantly from Jelly Key, in various themes that showcase what the Vietnam-based team of artisans can do. Of all these different themes, I would say the Zen Pond series has to be the one I resonate with most. There’s something about how those keycaps manage to create a sense of living space and motion inside a solid resin-filled keycap. I’ve seen a few different iterations of the Zen Pond theme over the years beginning in the very first article in 2021, the Zen Pond IV series that introduced different colors in early 2022, and the Zen Pond V series with the newly developed droplet keycap profile and the expanded Eden effect in early 2023. The trend would suggest a new Zen Pond keycap series would be on the way in early 2024 and here we are today looking at the new Zen Pond Serene Waters series.

Jelly Key operates primarily via the group buy method, wherein orders for a certain theme are taken for a week—or less if pre-orders hit the target as usual—and those keycaps are then never made or sold again outside of second-hand sellers. The Koi fish theme has been extremely popular among most artisan keycap and wrist rest makers too. With each new series adding something different, I was wondering what Jelly Key would be doing for round 6. I suppose a teaser had already come with the Crystal Veil keycaps from last year wherein the keycaps were no longer encased by resin and had some elements jut out. We see the teaser photo show the fish models come out of the top surface akin to fish breaking the water surface in a pond. The various models are also larger and more detailed than ever before so let’s thank Jelly Key for providing some final engineering samples to TechPowerUp for a closer examination. As a bonus, I’ll also include some photos at the end of some my own personal Jelly Key keycaps I got recently because why not?

Packaging

I covered before in more detail before how Jelly Key spent more time on the actual packaging design than some 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. Retail units will also get a metal dog tag souvenir and the box will have the unit’s serial number on it.

As always, the hand-applied seal is a nice touch with Jelly Key products, and a marketing tagline is etched into the back. Given this isn’t a retail unit, please be aware that the keycap may not fully represent the quality of finished products from the group buy. The box opens up to reveal the keycap, presented like a gift. There is foam lining in the lid, with the actual keycap inside a thicker foam piece with a cutout to snugly hold and protect the product.

Closer Examination

The thumbnail for this article as well as the unboxing photos must have shown that I was sent two different keycaps this time round and this helps better showcase the various options from this new group buy. First up, we have a 1.5u (Tab key) keycap in the SA keycap profile and the “Midori Gale” design. The size of the keycap limits things to a single koi fish model but immediately we can see this is larger than before, presented in three dimensions and curved to represent the fish swimming in the pond, and has fins breaking out the surface of the resin. The Eden effect is also seen with the white and green streaks of colored ink that now represents the water and foliage alike. The scales on the fish model are also individually colored now and in greater detail too. I was initially worried about the top surface being potentially harder to type on given my experience with the Crystal Veil keycap but this is subtle and rounded enough to not be an issue. As with all such Jelly Key artisans, the keycap has thick (~2 mm) walls for added structural integrity and has support for Cherry MX-style crosspoint stem switches. Also, the clear resin with the ink can be conducive for backlighting if you want to show off the keycap further.

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 220 keycaps in this series although I did see the 2.25u size is shown twice (Enter, L.Shift). There are even some larger art toys if you simply want to admire the art on a bigger scale as opposed to using them on a keyboard. This second example is a 2.25u size SA profile keycap in the “Ginrin Grotto” theme. There is more black and white here and the larger keycap now allows for two Koi fish models—one each in black and white with red accents. I get a yin/yang feeling with this design, especially with the two fish staring at each other. One is up taking a peek above the resin surface too and I like the attention to detail wherein you can see the top surface curving around the fish head/mouth.

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, these are SA profile keycaps which means these are taller than the OEM keycaps the rest of the keyboard has. As such, it is important to match the keycap profile if this is going on a key you will be using often. Some might deliberately go for a different profile to distinguish it visually as well as for touch typing though, so your mileage may vary. I am also a fan of Jelly Key’s droplet profile with its rounded sides that better illustrate the various components used here. The other photos seen above are just some examples of the new group buy keycaps in different sizes and designs to give you an idea of how they look. The Zen Pond – Serene Waters group buy is currently open until Feb 9 (or earlier if enough orders are placed), with no further sales planned. There are five designs, four keycap profiles, ten sizes, and even two aforementioned art toy options starting from $55 and going up to $111 for the 7u space bar keycap. There are further discounts and gifts for those buying multiple keycaps, as seen on the group buy page.

Bonus Artisan Keycaps

As promised, here are some photos of three keycaps I personally got. First up is the recently finished Dragon Sigil artisan in the 2.25u size and the “Crimson Emperor” design. This series is to celebrate the Year of the Dragon (2024) in the lunar calendar for various countries, including Vietnam.

This particular keycap is from one of Jelly Key’s regularly run raffles where more intricate designs in highly limited numbers are made and raffled off. These are more expensive than usual and the photos above show the “Advenbear Duo” 1u keycap that was part of the recently holiday season raffle.

Rounding off this article are some photos of arguably the cutest artisan keycap in my collection. This is from the Pillow Craft series which is one of Jelly Key’s pre-made designs that are in stock and allow you to buy them without the months of waiting with a typical group buy. These only come in 1u size and I got the “Crimson Embrace” colorway showcasing a throw pillow in red and black colors. It looks remarkably like a real pillow, including the stitches, until you touch it and realize it’s hard plastic.