Among the candidates to become members of the AHCI Academy of Independent Watchmakers is Shona Taine, watchmaker and founder of the Khemea brand. Arkhea is her first model.
Khemea means 'alchemy' in ancient Greek. The brand a was born in 2020 but, as founder Shona Taine likes to recall, she has been dedicated to watchmaking for at least 15 years. His training is academic and the results of the excellence of his work come early. After studying watchmaking for six years and obtaining three different diplomas, he distinguished himself in several competitions: best apprentice in France in 2015, second place at the Concours National des Métiers d'Art in 2017 and finally first place at the Concours de Réglage Étudiant in 2018. These competitions opened doors for her at major watch manufacturers, but after a short training period at some of them, Shona realised that only an independent career could satisfy her thirst for creativity.
Arkhea, which means 'the first one', is a watch with several objectives, including combining traditional techniques such as grand feu enamel and hand guilloché, and innovative ones such as the use of aventurine for the moon phases and calendar. The craftsmanship also shines through in the handmade finishes and in the technique for making most of its components, which is carried out on traditional machines.
Khemea's first watch
Arkhea, a contemporary specimen, but made using ancient techniques.
Arkhea features hours and minutes on a small off-centre grand feu enamel dial at 12 o'clock, moon phases on the left, a calendar, described by Shona Taine as poetic, on the right and a tourbillon at 6 o'clock. The moon phases are innovative in their display: the silver moon rotates on its aventurine disc and under the minute-hour dial, making one revolution every 29.5 days. The C-shaped index does not hide the moon, but indicates its age.
In the so-called 'poetic' calendar we find a second adventurine record, with 31 indices for the date. How to read it? Simply find the coloured dot, and determine its position in the sky. The 8-shaped indices symbolise the dates 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 of the month: the position of the dot therefore indicates the number of the day. Reading is done on the outer semicircle, then on the inner one, always from top to bottom. Not immediate, but certainly elegant and striking. On the dial, at 6 o'clock, the guilloché opens onto the tourbillon cage.
Shona Taine is one of the few women in the watchmaking world.
The power reserve is built on the basis of a cone differential, similar to the one explained by George Daniels.
The power reserve of no less than 100 hours is displayed on the case back, built on the basis of a cone differential, similar to the one explained by George Daniels in his famous book. As well as appealing to watchmaking enthusiasts, this differential has the advantage that it can be easily machined on traditional watchmaking machines, such as those in his workshop, and also has a significant gear ratio. With the barrel making 17 revolutions during winding, this differential allows a natural display of the reserve at a small angle (here 30°).
