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.com Interview conducted and edited by Elio @the349designer English voices: Elio and Adam @mediumwatch Executive 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 00:44:00 How to set a watch made by Marco 00:46:25 Working on the "manufacture" calibre 00:50:35 Thickness and diameters of Marc&Darnò watches 00:52:27 The use of "Marco Guarino" as a brand name 00:53:05 The habillage of Marc&Darnò watches: cases and dials 00:56:00 Experiences in exhibitions 00:57:58 Marco's personal motto 00:59:15 How Marco sees himself in 10 or 20 Years from now 01:00:30 Alessandro Rigotto, the other Italian member of AHCI 01:01:34 Closings