Copper plays a VERY important role in electronics, but this might be the first time copper’s been used for its aesthetic properties. Meet the Awekeys Copper Eagle Keycap set – made from actual copper alloy to give your keyboard drip like no other. Sure, people boast about customizing the RGB backlight on their keyboards, but nothing really matches having your keys be made of actual metal. The Copper Eagle set sports keycaps machined from literal metal, giving them a heft and shimmery appeal that plastic wishes it had. Compatible with Cherry MX switches and clones, these keys attach to any supporting mechanical keyboard (no matter the size or style), giving it an audiovisual makeover. The keys offer the distinctly cool feel of metal, but start typing and you realize how much of a difference they actually make. The metal keycaps offer a distinct kind of sound that feels less like a plastic clatter and more like coins clinking against each other. It also helps that the keys make your keyboard look like a million bucks.

Designer: Awekeys

Crafted from recycled cupronickel, a material known for its strength and durability, the Copper Eagle set is a testament to Awekeys’ commitment to sustainable practices without compromising on quality. Each keycap undergoes a meticulous milling process before receiving its signature satin copper plating. This finish isn’t just visually appealing; it also lends a unique tactile sensation to every keystroke. The weight of the metal keycaps contributes to a substantial feel, while the copper’s natural warmth adds a touch of elegance to any setup.

Beyond aesthetics, the Copper Eagle set offers a sonic user experience that sets it apart. Metal keycaps are renowned for their ability to produce a deeper, more resonant click compared to their plastic counterparts. The Copper Eagle does so too, delivering satisfyingly rich auditory feedback that can be customized further with the right switch and keyboard combination. Along with just the cold tactile feel of the metal against your fingertips, the satisfying metallic click just elevates the keyboard’s UX to an entirely new level, eschewing the ‘fake’ plasticity of regular mechanical keyboards and replacing it with the premium appeal of metal.

One’s immediate concern with copper alloys (and glossy keycaps in particular) is the issue of fingerprints and patinas. A copper keyboard only looks classy if it maintains its sheen, and to address that, Awekeys actually coated each keycap with a nanocoating that prevents the metal from oxidizing or reacting to the oil and sweat from your fingertips. The keys should remain pristine and shiny for months with regular wiping down, although the durability of the coating over time is still something to be determined.

The Copper Eagle set comes in various kits to accommodate different keyboard layouts and preferences. The base kit consists of every key required for a 100% layout keyboard, but you can grab custom caps too, including different copper grades that have slightly different hues, and a few vanity keys featuring eagle imagery for your special keys like the enter, escape, backspace, etc.

The obvious caveat here is weight – copper weighs significantly more than plastic, so this should definitely make your keyboard feel considerably heavier than usual, but that’s only really a problem if you’re carrying your keyboard around. The second caveat, and a slightly smaller one, is that these keys (just like your regular mechanical keycaps) won’t support backlights. Most keyboards come with dual-plastic keys that allow the symbols to glow so you can see them in the dark – that’s not really possible with copper, so you’ll be relying entirely on muscle-memory here. The benefit, however, is that you’ll also own the coolest-looking keyboard among your friend circuits.

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While not entirely serving a functional purpose, the Awekeys are perhaps the most expensive and beautiful set of keycaps you can attach to your mechanical keyboard. Made from 16 precious and semi-precious metals, the Awekeys turn your keyboard into a periodic table of sorts, giving it elite status!

The set of 12 keycaps come CNC machined from the different metals listed on them. You’ve got your more common copper keycap, an iron keycap, an aluminum keycap, as well as a few incredibly rare ones like a silver keycap, gold keycap, and even a platinum keycap. Each individual cap comes etched with its periodic table listing which details the metal’s abbreviated name, its position on the periodic table, and its standard atomic weight.

Designer: Drop

Launches as a limited drop on the Drop.com website, the Awekeys quite literally embody the phrase “what you see is what you get”. The 16 keycaps come with the SA shape profile, and fit onto most standard mechanical keyboards with switchable keys. The beauty of the keycaps lie in just precisely how nerdy they are. Each key comes made from the metal listed on it, and the 16 different caps are all machined to perfection from their respective metals. They all have the same shape, but have different weights and feel different to the touch. They’re literally a science lesson on your mechanical keyboard.

The keycaps weigh anywhere between 4 grams and 9 grams, with aluminum and magnesium being the lightest, and bismuth clocking in at the heaviest. The 16 Elements used for this project are Zinc, Nickel, Chromium, Aluminum, Copper, Iron, Brass, Black Aluminum, Titanium, Tin, Bismuth, Magnesium, Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Rhodium.

The only real problem with the keycaps lie in the fact that they’re labeled by their periodic table names and not by actual keyboard keys. Replacing keyboard keys with the Awekeys caps would require a fair bit of memory and intuition because you wouldn’t really know what the key actually stands for anymore. The folks at Drop.com recommend using them for your function keys and the arrow keys (12+4), although how you use these keys is entirely up to you. After all, you wouldn’t want to accidentally wear down your gold or platinum keycap with constant pressing, would you?! The Awekeys Element Artisan Keycaps are available on the Drop.com website, and although their price is available only on inquiry, rumor has it they start at a base price of $256 for the 16 keycaps.

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