Among the many donated items to the Possible Dreams auction on Monday are two watches that tell much more than time.

Rubin Cronig, owner of Vineyard Time watches and AquaNaut in Vineyard Haven, is donating two West Chop Lighthouse watches to the auction featuring dials scrimshawed by the late Tom DeMont, a well-known Edgartown scrimshaw artist. Mr. DeMont died in December.

“I wanted to do something to honor Tom in this year’s auction,” Mr. Cronig said. Last year, he and Mr. DeMont auctioned off a lunch appointment and scrimshaw lesson.

Mr. DeMont owned Edgartown Scrimshaw, where Mr. Cronig sold his signature scrimshaw high-end and mid-range watches, and was considered one of the top scrimshaw artists in the country.

“You’re not just talking about a store disappearing,” said Mr. Cronig. “You’re talking about a history. A very special part of Island culture. How do you preserve that?”

One way is to take special care of the dials Mr. DeMont scrimshawed that never went to the shelf to be sold. Mr. Cronig has a stock of dials made by Mr. DeMont and others on reserve in a vault. “I put out in the store what’s in high demand, or whatever I grab from the vault,” he said. Mr. Cronig didn’t happen to grab the West Chop set while Mr. DeMont was alive, and the dials have remained untouched until this special circumstance. Mr. DeMont worked on this watch set during the last year of his life.

“This was the only West Chop set we ever made,” said Mr. Cronig. “And it can’t be made again. I hope that the winner feels like they have made a donation to Community Services in Tom’s name.”

The last of Tom’s work is gradually leaving the vault as customers buy the supply. Mr. Cronig gives part of the proceeds from watches containing Mr. DeMont’s dials to the art program at the charter school, where Mr. Cronig attended high school.

“I’m a little bit sad to part with them,” Mr. Cronig said, “But my hope is that this goes to someone who knew Tom. You get to see it every day. You look down and are reminded of someone who was very, very special to you.”

Mr. Cronig will speak briefly about the importance of the set at the event. And then it’s up to the bidders. But Mr. Cronig is excited for the moment.

“Anything Tom scrimshawed,” he started, and then paused to snap his fingers. “It just went.”