WILTON – A gold pocket watch was once the traditional gift for a retiree or a graduate as well as a token of appreciation by a company, and they tell a kind of history. Many of them were American mad, but most are now made elsewhere.

Micah Tasker loves them and the stories they tell. Doing business as “The Vintage Watch Man,” he collects them and is a supplier of parts and tools for other collectors and repair people. He recently purchased the former Wilton National Bank Building on Main Street and is moving his business there.

“It will be a warehouse,” he said recently during a tour. “The business will remain mostly online and mail-in, but I’ll do some retail, be open by appointment.” He pointed out a row of cabinets holding every variety of watch crystal. “It’s kind of a wholesale/retail business.”

For over 20 years he has been buying the inventory of retiring watchmakers. “It’s amazing the amount of stuff they collect, the parts, the tools, all the materials.”

Finding parts for 100 to 150-year-old watches is hard, he said. “Manufacturers have moved to more contemporary types. (The Waltham Watch Company) hasn’t been in business for over 50 years. Hamilton (Watch Company) was the last American company. They were bought by a Swiss firm. Finding a part for your grandfather’s watch is a challenge.”

He is also a history buff. He spoke of seeing a watch presented by the former Longines-Wittnaur Company to Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I pilot who was their spokesman for many years. “I love that kind of thing.”

Tasker attends trade shows across the country and is a regular at the Brimfield Flea Market in Massachusetts. “I’ve been going there for over ten years,” he said, and makes yearly visits to such places in Ohio, New York, and Florida.

He got interested in traditional watches when he graduated from high school in 1978. “My father gave me a pocket watch. Quartz watches were coming out then and electric ones. Then I got some family pieces. My great-grandmothers little watch from 1912. I found them fascinating. I started with yard sales and antique stores. My wife introduced me to Brimfield.”

Tasker’s other interest, one he finds fascinating, is supplying authentic props for period movies. He noted “Boardwalk Empire,” an HBO series from 2010 to 2014. “Prop masters are meticulous.”

“I’m looking for an on-line partner to help work with that,” he said, to supply movie and television producers.

Tasker lives in Milton where he grew up. His wife is associated with the Berkely School of Music in Boston, and they also have a home near there. “But I prefer New Hampshire,” he said.

Tasker plans to restore the bank building, not replace the aging windows. The lettering on the front once had gold leaf and he will replace that. He would like to eventually to make an apartment on the upper floor but has encountered Main Street’s perennial problem – lack of parking.

“I look on these beautiful old buildings as a caretaker. I want to make this something special.”

He spent two years looking for a place, he said, originally looking at old mill buildings. “Then I found this beautiful little town.”

His big back windows have a grand view of the Souhegan River and the old railroad trestles and he wants to clean up his section of riverbank..

Although not regularly open as a retail store, he plans to take part in the town’s celebrations such as Summerfest, “let people see the building.”

He hopes to complete his renovations and move by spring.

To learn more, visit info@thevintagewatchamn.com.