From the Hills of Piedmont to the Stars: Interview with Marco Guarino, watch*maker* and AHCI candidate

In this episode of the Independent Thinking Show for @FifthWrist Radio we talk to Marco Guarino from Marc&Darnò.

“From the Hills of Piedmont to the Stars”

Marco Guarino lives and works in Asti, in a workshop that’s also his home.There, he creates no ordinary watches, but mechanical masterpieces that bring the sun, moon, and time into harmony. What started as an evening course turned into a lifelong passion: watches and astronomy.

Today, Marco builds complications the world has never seen before — from a moon phase module with an error margin of just 0.03 seconds to the world’s first “Lunar Equation” in a wristwatch.His motto? “Never give up because you might be one step away from success.”His dream? To share his knowledge — and soon become a full member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).He is currently a Candidate and hopes to take the decisive step next year.

If you want to discover how an idea born between stars and gears becomes a watch that pushes the limits of what’s possible — tune in to this episode!

*** Detailled table of contents below ***

Marco is not that confident with English, but we are fortunate enough to have Elio on board, who actually is Italian.

Elio is known as @the349designer and in the unlikely case you don’t know him, he’ got much experience with watches not only as a knowledgable collector, but also as someone who designed two breathtaking individual pieces all by himself; so Elio is the perfect choice on many levels to conduct this interview in Marcos native language. 

We have subsequently dubbed this with English voice-overs to make it available to a broader audience. The voice of Marco is spoken by Adam – @mediumwatch – you know him as one of the co-hosts of «Fifth Wrist Independent Thinking»

Make sure to check out Marco and Marc&Darnò @marcdarno_official on instagram and www.marcdarno.com/

A Fifth Wrist Radio production: @fifthwrist; fifthwrist.comInterview conducted and edited by Elio @the349designerEnglish voices: Elio and Adam @mediumwatchExecutive producer & audio editor: Claus @tapir_ffm 

Theme Music based on the aria «Ebben, Ne Andro Lontana» of the opera «La Wally» by Alfredo Catalani 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:03:40 Wrist-, Drink- & Location-Check (Marco)

00:06:34 Wrist-, Drink- & Location-Check (Elio)

00:08:09 Applicant for the AHCI

00:09:15 Meeting Vincent Calabrese

00:11:38 The experiences at the Professional Watchmaking School in Turin

00:14:10 The beginning of the watchmaking career and the first machineries

00:15:30 The transition to the brand Marc & Darn

00:17:40 The passion for Astronomy and the home-made Moonphase module

00:19:07 The suggestions from Vincent Calabrese about an "open" dial style, like the Corum Golden Bridge one

00:20:24 Learning how to properly finishing a movement

00:21:35 Ludwig Oechslin and the Türler Clock

00:22:32 The calculations needed for an astronomical complication

00:24:20 The use of classical components like gears and wheels, instead of using differentials, like Andreas Strehler does

00:25:10 The meaning of accuracy in a moonphases complication

00:26:15 Designing an astronomical wristwatch: the trade-off between accuracy and available space

00:28:03 Comparing a classic moonphase complication to the one made by Marco

00:29:00 The base caliber used by Marco

00:30:30 The equation of time complication made by Marco

00:35:40 The lunar day complication made by Marco

00:37:40 The lunar equation complication made by Marco

00:40:45 The Indian calendar made by Marco

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