Thanks for the reply.
To clarify, I understand the challenge of a small operation, being an independent developer myself.
I understand things can take time, and often take longer than expected.
I just probably misinterpreted the 'very soon' comments over the weeks to mean 'a few days' rather than 'a few weeks'.
Had I understood that, I would have probably invested in a temporary case meanwhile, and came back and check on this a few weeks later.
Instead, I have been checking in here twice a day to check when I will finally be able to cover my phone with this case...
Anyway, I understand from this reply that things don't look great for this week, and that we still don't have a date. I am sure you'll be successful with these beautiful cases, but this will have to be without me, how do we get a refund on the preordering ticket?
Well, I ended up ordering this case anyway, as this was too painful to start searching for a new case all over again, and I've received it this week.
This is quite a beautiful case. Packaging is nice. Putting it on is easy, the fit is very good. I don't know how easy it is to remove and put back on many times, I prefer not to test that before I have the need to do that.
The feel of the case is nice, much much nicer feel than plastic. The laser engraving is deeper than I expected, I wonder how durable the bamboo layer is gonna be for some of the designs. I don't see any sign that it would not be durable so far, just wondering...
Buttons: they feel pretty good. A bit more firm than some cases like the Apple bumper on the iPhone 4, but it's definitely better than a lot of plastic cases I have tried in the past.
Cutouts: I had no problem with the lightning connectors and headphones. Time will tell if all accessories fit but so far so good. The precision of those cutouts are as good as it gets, the mute button, headphone and lightning connector are all centered perfectly in their respective cutouts.
Bulk/weight: well, if like many people here, you have been using the phone naked while waiting for the case, you will definitely feel the difference in size and weight. If you have been using another case, then you may not find this case extremely bulky. It's not as low profile as a skin type case, it's not huge either. The bezel might also annoy you at first if you've been using the phone naked, but nothing different from any other case.
One thing to consider when adding a bit of bulk is when you're using the phone with one hand, your adding a few millimeters to the distance your thumb has to travel, which can be a problem for some people with the longer iPhone 5 screen.
Other: I haven't seen any problem with reception, and the phone vibration feels good through the case.
Conclusion: so far so good. I have been using a bumper with the iPhone 4/4S, so the added bulk of this kind of case is something I need to get used to. The case might be a little 'too nice': if you're getting a case because you're worried about scratching your phone, with this case you might feel like you're now worried about scratching the case.
Update: I forgot to say, it would be a nice addition if twig was providing wallpapers/lock screen backgrounds that correspond to the engraved design. I downloaded a random bamboo image for my lock screen, but rather has something that matches the design I selected