Hey gang, hope you have some great holidays! Let's get to our end of the year update and hopefully our last big Werk One production update.

Werk One Production

We hoped we could start fulfilling Werk One R.1 units before Christmas, unfortunately we ran into severe issues with the packaging. While packaging went into production early Q2, our first factory couldn’t deliver satisfying results, especially in regard of foam protection which was a red flag for us. We ended up with a new packaging manufacturing partner and had to prototype from the start. The results are pretty great this time. Right now we are waiting for the final sample with a few packed up boards and all the accessories to arrive at our office in Tübingen. While I don’t want to spoil the unboxing, here a close up of the colours and texture we are rather happy with =)

We expect the packaging production to complete by mid-January. After that the boards will be packed up and shipped to us. I want to stay conservative with the fulfillment eta, since it's difficult for us to predict how fast German customs will be, but we think the boards should be in February in our warehouse which we are currently setting up. The production of the R.1 Werk One units is completely finished, we solved the remaining issues with polycarbonate and the commission unit engravings are finalized. Couple of pics:

While we were waiting for the packaging prototypes, we used the time to add a little something to your Werk One kits that originally wasn’t planned.

Many buyers reached out asking about options to modify the sound with different foams for PCB and the plate. While Werk One was designed without foam, with a very specific bright and clacky sound profile back in mind, we thought that having more options to customize the build is always better than less. We collaborated with greendoorgeeks and after 2 prototyping rounds, we came up with suitable materials for pcb and plate foams, so you can further customize the soundprofile of your One. Each kit of Werk One will come with one set of PCB and plate foam. Should you need more sets they will be made available later down the road at greendoorgeeks.com and our accessories page. Here few pics of the prototypes:

Tomorrow never knows

We expect 2024 to be quite big for werk.technica and we've planned some big things for the coming year. We didn't want to release new products while R.1 Werk One units were still in production, since it was our first big pre-order. Still it was a very busy year behind the curtains.

First Triad and Instrument runs are planned for 2024. Instrument is being redesigned from ground up to achieve a sleeker profile and a practical quirk many of you will be excited to see. More about it in 2024.

First Triad prototyping round is completed the boards are on their way to us. The design is greenlit from our production team, so we can get into detail and finish work with the final prototyping round. Here some first very raw pics from our manufacturing partner: 

Some long term followers are hoping for the Luna variant to return. It might indeed return with Triad: matte silver top, mirror polished steel front bottom body, mirror polished steel weights and polycarbonate rear. Here you can see first samples of a polycarbonate curved rear with mirror polished steel weight used with Moloko aluminum pieces.

The biggest difficulty with Werk Triad design was to achieve the tight tolerances of 4 interconnecting parts with different coatings and materials shaping the bottom body artwork - without interruptions. Which worked out just great and which we are rather proud of. We should have proper studio pics of different Triad variants in the coming months.

Werk Triad R.1 is planned for Q2-Q3 2024 depending on the results of the second, final prototyping round. Oled modules and dials will be a big focus of the second Triad prototyping round, the modules will be interchangeable with Werk One.

Alongside with Triad we will run Werk Emissary. We are still trying different manufacturers, while current results are very promising, we want to try MTNU profile Emissary variant, which should suit werk.technica designs rather well. Only downside with MTNU, we would be limited to MTNU GMK legends. We are curious to hear your thoughts about it and what you would prefer for the first Werk Emissary run.

Last but not least, the work on leather carry cases for werk.technica designs continues. We are collaborating with small businesses in Spain and Italy that specialize in luxury leather and vegan leather bags and accessories. First material samples are looking very promising, we will have first prototypes Q1-Q2 2024.

Alongside with that we are working on werk.accessories Amaya deskmats. Werk Amaya mats are named after the small Spanish village where they will be produced. Thick toned premium leather, vegan leather and merino wool are the planned options. The leather variant with rounded edges is seen on the pics above :) 

The last announcement for 2024 is werk.technica & friends program: we are expanding our keyboard offering in 2024 in collaboration with selected designers, a small sneak peek:

tl;dr

- Werk One production is completed, final polycarbonate units passed the factory QC

- We encountered a big issue with packaging foam and had to change the packaging factory, new packaging is being produced right now, its looking great but we had to move the fulfillment eta to Q1 2024, we expect the units to arrive in our warehouse sometime in November

- There will be a small stock of extras, each variant but BHS will be available

- There will be Werk One R.2, likely 2024

- R.1 of Triad prototyping is completed, we expect to run Triad Q2 2024

- Instrument is being redesigned for sleeker profile and more functions, it will run 2024

- Werk Emissary samples look good but we will try few more manufacturers, including GMK for MTNU profile

- Werk Accessories: Amaya leather cases and deskmats produced in Europe are planned for 2024

- with werk.technica & friends program we are expanding our keyboard offering in 2024 in collaboration with selected designers

2023 has been a turbulent year for the keyboard community and we want to thank you for your support, patience and trust. Thank you all for being on this ride with us.

werk.technica team wishes you an exciting 2024, see you in the next year everyone!