Only 26 years old, and already with her own independent watchmaking atelier, Shona Taine’s passion for watchmaking was forged when she was barely a decade old, when she first laid eyes on Prague’s fascinating astronomical clock. A past-pupil of the Lycée Edgard Faure in Morteau, she has a been the recipient of a number of student awards and accolades, and in 2023 she was invited to join the prestigious AHCI as a candidate. The watchmaking company name ‘Khemea’, meaning alchemy in Ancient Greek, is highly expressive of her journey thus far in horology. Having infused the knowledge absorbed from her tutors and mentors with her own creativity and mastery of the watchmaking craft, she now unveils her debut piece, the aptly titled Arkhea, meaning ‘the first’. Contemporary, yet crafted with ancient techniques on machines that are many, many generations older than its maker, the Arkhea by Shona Taine is a superb example of an atelier  crafted timepiece featuring traditional Haute Horlogerie as seen through fresh, youthful eyes.

Complex and elegant, the dial of the Arkhea is on three levels, with a Grande Feu enamel off-centred hours and minutes at the upper. Shimmering aventurine discs for the moonphase and the date are positioned on the left and right, and these are joined by the tourbillon at the six o’clock, with the arrangement of the four entities promoting superb equipoise. Astoundingly accomplished in both design and innovation, both the moonphase and the date are minimalist in style, with the current moon displayed via a refined “C” shaped index, and the date indicated on a disc with 31 tiny openings. The latter is instantly intuitive to read, and is enhanced by distinctive markings wherein the upper and lower section of six number ‘8’ markers serve to direct the eye to the position of the month in 5 day increments, with a dot marker for the current day. Exquisite hand-achieved guilloché surrounds the indications, and a generous opening on the lower dial showcases the tourbillon and its double arrow-shaped bridge.

The Arkhea is presented in a titanium case, and here too well-considered design gives the model uniqueness that belies the youthfulness of the watchmaker. Sized at 40mm with a height of 10mm, it features a tapering polished bezel offset by curvaceous brushed sections on the sides, leading towards flowing lugs.

On turning over, the immaculate finishing of the manual winding in-house tourbillon movement is displayed through a sapphire crystal caseback, and while the darkened grained bridges give it a modern aesthetic, the blued screws and the traditional hand-polished detailing gives one no doubt of its Haute Horlogerie credentials.  Notably the two-pawl arrangement on the ratchet is inspired by the composition used on striking watches, and it adds to the visual pleasure while hand-winding the watch as the pawls come to life. Additionally, the power reserve is located on the movement side, and its generous 100 hour reserve from a single barrel is displayed in a discreet 30° segment, with its shortened little arc indication enabled by the use of a simple, yet highly effective cone-shaped differential.

An outstanding definitive debut piece, the Khemea Arkhea watch by Shona Taine is presented in a limited edition of only 12 pieces.