A mechanical watch movement with sapphire glass built into an 8.6 kg wireless mechanical keyboard: Wuque Studio Nama launch
Wuque Studio is the premium sister brand of Chilkey — whose ultra-light gaming mouse we recently reviewed, and the brand behind the popular ND75 affordable wireless mechanical keyboard — and the company's latest release, the Nama wireless mechanical keyboard, claims to live up to that premium name. The Nama, at face value, is a simple 80% mechanical keyboard with a metal case and some unique design decisions, however, Wuque Studio has spent nearly five years refining the design, starting with the original Mammoth75, to come up with what it bills as a return to the true spirit of the custom mechanical keyboard scene. The Nama features several unique design touches and features that make it stand out from the crowd of popular pre-built wired and wireless mechanical keyboards.
For starters, Nama is available with either an aluminium or brass CNC-cut case, making it potentially one of the heaviest production mechanical keyboards currently available on the market. The aluminium case weighs in at an impressive 6.6 kg, while the brass case tips the scales at 8.6 kg. Perhaps the defining feature of the Nama keyboard, however, is the fully functional mechanical watch movement into the top right corner of the case, which also doubles as a volume control knob — essentially a much fancier version of the knobs we've praised in reviews of keyboards like the Keychron Q1 HE 8K most recently. The watch movement is custom machined by Wuque Studio and is covered by a piece of sapphire glass, although a watch face and hands are missing, since the primary goal of the mechanical watch movement was to add another layer of tactility to the keyboard.
WS Nama wireless mechanical keyboard specs and details
As far as the basic keyboard functionality goes, the Nama has most bases covered. It features both wired and wireless connectivity, with Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz for the latter, and it sports dual 4,000 mAh batteries to power the wireless connectivity. It is also VIA compatible, so it supports on-board macro creation, remapping, and customisation of the RGB underglow and per-key backlighting. The Nama comes as a pre-assembled kit, which is to say that it comes pre-assembled but does not include switches or keycaps, although it is compatible with standard 3- and 5-pin MX switches, like the Gateron Oil King V2 switches (curr. $59.99 for 90 switches on Amazon).
There are 10 colour options for the Nama, and buyers have the option of either an aluminium top and bottom case or an aluminium top case and a brass bottom case. The watch movement is also customisable, with options including a movement with a standard flywheel and a tourbillion, which is a specialised part of the watch movement that was originally designed to improve timekeeping accuracy but serves as an additional touch of visual interest in the Nama keyboard. The Nama will be available as a group buy between December 9 and 23, and it will be limited to a run of just 300, at least initially. Whether Wuque Studio will end up making the Nama available for purchase after the initial 300-unit group buy has passed is unclear.
Pricing for the Nama depends on which version you choose, with the cheapest options — specifically the Amethyst Night, Titanium Shadow, Rose Quartz, Violet Whisper, Crimson Royale, and Lunar Silver colour ways, which all have the aluminium bottom case — starting at $749, while the Nova Frost, Midnight Blue, Noir Eclipse, and Emerald Dusk colour ways start at $899.99 and include the brass bottom case. The watch movement design will also affect cost, with the tourbillion movement adding a whopping $400 to the final cost of the keyboard, bringing the total cost up to an eyewatering $1,149.99 for the aluminium version and $1,299.99 for the brass-bottomed version.
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