About
The Present gives you a new way to experience time.
Instead of racing through seconds, it moves slowly — one full year, one quiet revolution — showing now as part of the natural rhythm of the seasons.
Since 2012, thousands of people around the world have welcomed The Present into their homes. Not to measure time, but to experience it differently. Not to track what’s passing, but to be a part of something mysterious, and eternal.
First Edition (2012)
Why is it called The Present?
Because that’s what it shows you — the present moment as a part of bigger story of time.
One hand.
One slow revolution.
One full year.
It helps you see time at the speed of life, turning the moment into something you can see, feel, and live with.
Give yourself The Present and see the time you’ve been missing.
What Owners Say
• A more profound, calmer sense of what it means to be present.
• A way to see change unfolding at a more natural, forgiving pace.
• A beautifully crafted, precision-made piece of art — built to last in Vermont.
• A conversation piece that invites reflection and sparks curiosity.
• A quiet connection to a global community rethinking how we live with time.
150 testimonials
The video features an early prototype of The Present (2011)
Crafted with Care
The Present is precision-engineered and thoughtfully crafted to remain accurate for decades.
Since 2012, every custom component has evolved across seven different editions of The Present.
After all of this time, what remains is a remarkable work of functional art engineered to operate quietly for decades.
If you ever have an issue, please let us know. Each part is replaceable as needed, ensuring longevity and reliability.
Each timepiece is assembled in Vermont.
About the Founder
(switching to 3rd person)
Scott Thrift is reshaping how we experience time with his life’s work, The Present.
With a background in film studies, Scott co-founded the Emmy award-winning production company 'm ss ng p eces.' His extensive travels and documentation of diverse design processes informed a unique global perspective on the human condition.
Anxious for time to have more meaning and for the moment to last longer than a single second, he created The Present, to help bring himself and anyone else interested into greater harmony with the natural world.
Scott's timepieces are now in thousands of homes across forty-three countries.
The feedback of what people say about living with The Present is incredible and is the primary reason we've made so many of them and will continue to make more. Life is enlivened by new experiences and one of the most exciting experiences I can imagine and make possible in the world for others to experience; is expanding your understanding of and ability to appreciate time.
Since 2012
Thrift has made and shipped over nine thousand timepieces. He could not have done this without the help of dozens of partners and thousands of individual backers, and customers worldwide.
The latest edition is the seventh generation, crafted with industrial design guidance from Che-Wei Wang & Taylor Levy of the award-winning design duo CW&T.
It features a first-of-its-kind clock movement engineered by Josh Levine of josh.com to run for decades on the included batteries.
The Present Icon and communication design is a collaboration with the artist Jonathan Harris.
What's it like to live with The Present?
Visit our Testimonial page to find out.
Visit Thrift's LinkedIn here.
The Present Inc.
Founded in 2012, after a decade in NYC, The Present's home is now in Burlington, Vermont, the country's fresh-air capital.
We meticulously craft and assemble each timepiece by hand. The latest edition of The Present is its seventh, guided by feedback from our valued international community.
Let us know if you have any other questions by messaging us at:
hello @ thepresent dot is
This picture was made on February 16th.
