Ghanaian-owned and premier watch repair brand, Hourhand Watch Co., has implemented some inventive strategies to help Ghanaian watch and clock lovers keep their favourite luxury timepieces forever.
The brand, founded and managed by an industrious young entrepreneur and watch enthusiast, Patrick Amofah, was set up in memory of his late father, who left behind lots of watches.
He revealed that the name “HourHand” was chosen to convey the concepts of timekeeping and craftsmanship. In a literal sense, “our hand” emphasises our handcrafts.
Recounting the brand’s journey, Patrick said the idea of starting a watch company came after a watchmaker ruined one of his father’s favourite watches, “I lost my father in 2017. He was a lover of watches and left a significant number of them behind. There was one in particular that I wanted to wear, but it was broken, and I had a hard time finding a good watchmaker to restore it in Ghana.”
“When I finally got someone, they ruined the dial by trying to fix the fallen markers on it with glue. I was disappointed because it was one of my father’s favourite watches. Due to the sentiments attached, I wanted to have his timepieces with me all the time.”
Speaking about the brand’s growth, he continued, “That’s when I became interested in watches and took some time to understand the basic concepts of watch movements. Honestly, I didn’t take it seriously until somewhere in 2019, when I was moving out and came across some of my dad’s old watches. So, I decided to teach myself. Not until I was involved in the art of watchmaking.”
Mr Amofah recalled, “I always thought of it as a cakewalk, but it can be a demanding process. However, it gets interesting when disassembling watch parts and putting them together as one whole, functioning piece! I think I’ve watched almost every video about watchmaking on Youtube.”
He said he committed time to studying how the local watchmakers restored timepieces, “especially in Accra, and no doubt, I could show you 99 ways to “fix” a watch which wouldn’t still work. I’m currently undertaking an online certification course in horology.”
After countless interactions with different people, he noticed that there are people with defective collectable watches and even normal ones who are looking for the right watchmakers to entrust them with. Unfortunately, “such watchmakers are hard to come by. Therefore, I decided to explore the business opportunity and the market demand.
In 2020, Patrick started Hourhand Watch Co as a full-time business, but because of COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions, he was operating it as an e-commerce site, restoring watches and selling well-known branded watches.
Early in 2021, it was noticed that clients wanted to meet physically to confidently leave their valuables. “Sadly, I didn’t have enough capital, so I looked for alternatives. I would sometimes meet some clients in person. Thank God I had a car, so that made it a bit manageable but I still needed the office. Therefore, I discussed with one of my friends who lived at a prime location in Spintex the use of his space for meeting clients since I was at Tema, quite far from the type of clients I was serving at the time.
“We saw a boost in the number of clients that walked in to get some sort of service and couldn’t host them in the house any more. We finally moved into our current facility at Greda Estate in August of the same year, and have invested considerably in procuring Swiss-standard tools and devices for watchmaking.”
He evoked that, “Over time, there was a need for quality straps to go along with clients’ restored watches. I wasn’t getting the kind of quality that was up to par, so I ventured into making handcrafted straps. You might think of me as a lifelong learner—I’m also a self-taught maker of leather straps. We now have a team of 7, with everyone contributing diversely to the expansion of this business. ”
The brand is managed by a team of professionals who have been well-trained in watchmaking and provide a wide range of activities. Genuine part replacements, battery replacement, inspection and cleaning, movement servicing and overhauling, band and case refinishing, link additions and removals, and vintage timepiece restoration are among them. They repair all types of watches and brands, be they automatic, mechanical, or quartz.
“We ensure that the defective timepiece is carefully inspected, followed by a series of tests using the available state-of-the-art devices to evaluate its condition. This allows us to recommend appropriate solutions that would restore the timepiece to its aesthetic perfection. We allow flexibility for our clients to decide on the type of services needed based on our test results. “
Hourhand watches also sell watch straps for any kind of watch that exists in the world. They have repaired and continue to repair and maintain all the top watch and luxury watch brands. It has provided valuable solutions to a substantial number of individuals, institutions, and organisations in different parts of Africa and other European countries.
Hourhand Watch Co. has launched handcrafted straps in different sizes, colours, and leather types. All are available on sale and demand.
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