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 different themes. These include the Dragons of Eden theme, which was fitting given 2024 was the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese and Vietnamese Zodiac. It is now 2025, so to no surprise there was another timely update.
Today we are looking at the Mystic Snake series of Jelly Key artisan keycaps. The brand 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 second-hand sellers. This group buy has actually already ended as of the date I write this article since I was traveling away from home when these samples arrived. But Jelly Key mentioned they would be happy to take on special orders for TechPowerUp readers if they are still interested in getting these, all you would have to do is contact them. I would still do it as soon as possible though given they can only accommodate so many extra orders once production starts. As the name suggests, these keycaps are to help usher in the Year of the Snake, and thanks to Jelly Key for providing some final engineering samples to TechPowerUp for a closer examination.
Packaging
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, the two boxes here are for a 1u sized keycap as well as a 1.5u to 2.75u sized keycap. They have the Jelly Key logo on the front and a list of contents on the side, along with a seal featuring contact information. Opening the packaging reveals the actual product boxes held in place by a shaped compartment in the solid paper packaging. Retail units will also get a metal dog tag souvenir and the box will have the unit’s serial number on it.
The keycaps are placed inside appropriately sized small wooden boxes with a rounded, smooth finish. These come with a hand-applied seal, which is a nice touch with Jelly Key products, and a marketing tagline 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
I mentioned before how I was sent two different keycaps in two different sizes and colorways to help showcase the different options available with this theme. The larger of the two is a 2.25u (Enter or L.Shift) keycap in the “Blue Petal” design, with the smaller 1u keycap using the “Jade Serpent” design. You will notice both of these keycaps are naked in profile, which is a recent feature Jelly Key has been offering. Typical artisan keycaps use a resin pour over the various intricate elements, which in turn is sculpted to one of several keycap profiles (Cherry, OEM, SA, Droplet etc.), allowing them to be in line with the rest of your keycaps on the keyboard. The resin also adds protection and effectively allows you to use these keycaps daily without worry. However, the market for these artisan keycaps has been changing recently to where people are purchasing new ones simply because they look cool. I have seen a lot of keyboard enthusiasts have separate display stands, or even a dedicated display keyboard, purely for these artisan keycaps. They have no intention to type on them, and would prefer to just see them better. This is where the naked profile comes in, effectively revealing the finished, yet still raw, aesthetic of these keycaps.
As usual, the various individual elements are all resin-cast with up to 32 different colors, and Jelly Key says this alone can take as much as 16 hours per keycap. This is a multi-layer process, with each layer taking as much as eight hours to cure before the next one can be set on top. The snake and the flowers are also handcrafted, and this is especially visible with the details on the snake scales and eyes. The base layer is translucent, with clear resin infused with shiny metal dust, allowing for LEDs to shine though as seen above. Obviously the naked nature of these keycaps makes it less practical, but thankfully these also come in the SA profile with a resin pour for those who prefer it.
I used the Anne Pro 2 keyboard to demonstrate the keycaps installed, with its white base allowing for good contrast and the spotlight given to the keycaps themselves. There is a reason this series of artisan keycaps is not offered in OEM or Cherry profiles, as evident by the naked profile versions already being taller than the OEM keycaps surrounding them. This is because the snake and flower elements are fairly prominent, and the various layers add up to making a relatively tall keycap. The SA profile version would not be much taller than this, for what it is worth. This is also why it’s best to match these keycaps with your keyboard, especially if this is going on a key you will be using often. Using a keyboard with backlighting, especially per-key RGB lighting, will also allow you to get the base layer to shine through as preferred. This keycap series has only two profiles, but makes up for it with 9 different designs. There are three sizes available, including the large spacebar key which looks absolutely stunning from the photos on the website, as well as larger art toys if you simply want to admire the art on a bigger scale as opposed to using them on a keyboard. Pricing ranges from $55-102 depending on the keycap size, and you can find more details on the group buy page.
Bonus: 8-bit series – Enigma Path artisan keycaps
While this article was mostly talking about the Mystic Snake series, I did grab some more artisan keycaps over the holidays for personal use and figured I might as well show them off here. These are two keycaps, again in the naked profile, from the 8-bit series – Enigma Path group buy. We’ve seen other entries in the 8-bit series from Jelly Key before, and this theme is my personal favorite as I can easily see where each keycap theme gets inspiration from. I have here a 2u (backspace) keycap in the “Shadow Prison” design and a 2.75u (R.Shift) in the “Dark Chamber” design. I got these in the naked profile before of the 8-bit style assembly of the layers, allowing for a 3D effect when viewed from a normal typing angle. These are also flat and have enough contact surface at the top to where you can actually type on them, although I would not recommend intense gaming! The base layer also illuminates nicely with keyboard LEDs, and the windows of the various buildings almost appear to have glass-stained designs when lit up. I highly recommend the 8-bit series if you see a new group buy in the future and were interested in getting an artisan keycap yourself.
