If you’re looking to give your favorite aetherweb navigator something truly unique and beautiful for the holidays, how about a custom-made steampunk keyboard? You can have a one-of-a-kind board made that is surprisingly functional and work-a-day, while looking like an elegant antique from some alternate retro-future.

Unless you’ve been living under a stump, you’ve likely noticed a significant 2007 spike of blog and mainstream media interest in all things steampunk/Victorian tech. Computer modders, cosplayers (costume players), artists, and others, have all become enamored with Jules Verne-scented anything.

In the vanguard of this retro art movement are hardware modders like Jake von Slatt (Steampunk Workshop), Jake Hildebrandt (Jake of All Trades), and Richard Nagy (a.k.a. Datamancer). When Herr von Slatt blogged his beautiful brass steampunk keyboard project earlier this year, it garnered lots of attention and requests to custom-build others. Jake wasn’t interested, but his brother in brass, Datamancer, jumped at the chance.

Datamancer has built a bunch of these steampunk keyboards at this point and is taking orders for more. He also auctions boards off on eBay. You can customize your board with different types of metal for the frame, different types of keys, different finishes, jewel lights, even faux displays on the board. For the more goth-leaning keyboard connoisseur, Nagy is currently working on the “ArchBishop,” which will include backlit stained glass in the design. The options seem endless.

These custom boards cost between $800-1000 (or more), depending on materials and other options. Each board takes a lot of time to make, so I’m not sure how many he’ll be able to fab up in time for the holidays, but you could commission one now, to be delivered later, or buy one of the existing boards at auction.