25-Year Warranty

We stand behind the quality and craftsmanship of every timepiece we make.

The Present is covered by a 25-year warranty against defects in materials, workmanship, and normal operation. If a covered issue arises, we will repair, refurbish, or replace the timepiece at our discretion.

Customers are responsible for shipping costs to and from our studio.

The warranty does not cover damage caused by misuse, improper installation, modification, accidents, impact, or falls from the wall.

If damage is not covered by the warranty, we will do our best to repair or refurbish the timepiece at the customer’s expense.

• Original movement engineered to last for decades on the included batteries.
  
• 11" in Diameter (27.94 cm)
  
• 2.5" from wall (6.35 cm)
  
• 3.2 lbs (1.45 kg)
  
• Custom wide angle lens
  
• Brushed stainless steel rims precision engineered to pressure-fit over the glass
  
• Airbrushed Resin/Fiberglass Hand
  
• Stunning UV Cured Print engineered to resist color drain even in direct sunlight
  
• Custom cork body from Portugal
  
• L91 Lithium Batteries Already Installed
  
• Anodized Backplate
  
• Installation hardware for flush mount

The Present
An original work of art engineered to last.
+
Installation hardware

Each timepiece is made to order and ships within one week of purchase.

Returns are accepted within one year of the purchase date. The timepiece must be returned in excellent condition to receive a refund of the purchase price. Any damage or refurbishment required may be deducted from the refund.

Customers are responsible for return shipping costs.

For defects or issues with the operation of your timepiece, please see our 25-year warranty.

The Present is a small studio practice run by two people. I make each timepiece, my partner packs it, and we send it from our studio in Burlington, Vermont.

For drywall, there is a hand-picked anchor and screw complete with an instruction card on how to use both.

The screw has a hand-painted yellow neck indicating the point to which you fasten the screw into the anchor for a perfect fit.

If you are installing on wood, use a sturdy screw or nail.

If you are installing on something else, you probably know what you're doing.

If you don't please let me know.

Do not use picture hangers or contact strips; I guarantee you it will fall, in time.

Short Answer

Leap years are a calendar correction where we collectively decide to add one day to our calendar system every four years.

The "Leap Day" does not exist in relation to the orbit of the Earth and therefore, the orientation of The Present.

The Present doesn’t “add a leap day.”

It turns at the rate of the seasonal (astronomical) year, about 365.2422 days per revolution, which means the hand moves slightly under one degree per day (about 0.9856°/day).

Long Answer

Calendars are built from whole days: 365 or 366.But the year in nature, the cycle that brings the seasons back, is not a whole number of days. It’s about 365.2422 days.

That leftover fraction is why the calendar sometimes inserts February 29 to keep dates aligned with the seasons. The Present is not a calendar.

It doesn’t count days and then insert an extra one. It follows the underlying cycle continuously, so there’s no leap-year “step” to add.

Extended Answer

It helps to separate two ideas:

1) The year in nature (astronomy)

A seasonal year can be defined by an event like:

• Spring equinox → next spring equinox

That cycle is about 365.2422 days (roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds). Nature does not give us a year made of neat day-boxes. It gives us a continuous cycle.

2) The year in our calendar (day-boxes)

A calendar is a planning grid. It can only use whole days, so it must choose:

• 365 or 366

If we used 365 every year, the calendar would drift away from the seasons by almost 6 hours per year, so the calendar sometimes inserts a leap day to stay aligned.

Important: The leap day is not an “extra day in nature. ”It’s a repair inside the calendar system.

So what does The Present do?

The Present does not ask “Is this a leap year?” and it does not add a special extra day.

It does one simpler thing: It turns continuously at the seasonal-year rate.

That’s why the hand moves slightly slower than one degree per day:

• 360° / 365.2422 days ≈ 0.9856° per day

If it moved 1° per day, it would finish the circle in 360 days, which is too fast. So it must move just under 1° per day to take a full year.

Why do equinox and solstice dates shift on calendars?

You may notice the equinoxes and solstices don’t always land on the same calendar date (for example, March 20 vs March 21).

That’s normal, and it’s exactly the calendar vs. nature distinction in action.

• The equinox and solstice are precise astronomical moments.
• A calendar date is a 24-hour box with a name.

Those moments can occur at different times of day each year, and depending on your time zone, the event can fall on one date or the next. So, the event is defined by astronomy, but the date label is a human box we attach to it.

Does the year change slightly from one year to the next?

Yes, very slightly.

Real orbital dynamics mean the exact timing of equinox-to-equinox varies by minutes across years.

But on a year-scale clock, that difference is far below what anyone could perceive. Even a few minutes corresponds to only a few thousandths of a degree on the dial.

The practical result is simple: The Present tracks the underlying cycle, the continuous year, not calendar boxes.

It’s an instrument for cosmic orientation.

No.

In fact, hours become irrelevant at the scale of an entire year.

The Present arrives already on and in time.

After it is assembled by Scott Thrift, he sets it to The Present moment in the studio.

Yes.