Ghanaian watchmaker Patrick Amofah services $600k Richard Mille McLaren and other high-end watches

Patrick Amofah seemed destined from young age to be a watchmaker.

The Ghanaian horologist and founder of Hourhand Watch Co., Patrick Amofah is currently one of few watchmakers in Africa capable of servicing a $600k Richard Mille McLaren timepieces.

The Richard Mille McLaren with reference RM-011-03 is an exclusive timepiece made in honour of McLaren Auto motive’s creations. The Skeletonized automatic Calibre RMAC3 winding movement is housed in a Carbon TPT and orange Quartz-TPT case. Made with Titanium Pushers fitted to the Carbon TPT case band, which echo the design of the headlights on the 720S. Limited edition of 500 timepieces.

This watch features Titanium inserts similar in shape to the iconic McLaren F1’s air vents and bearing the Richard Mille logo adorn the bezel. With an adjustable rotor geometry offering hours, minutes, seconds, flyback chronograph, 60-minute countdown timer at 9 o’clock, 12-hour totalizer, oversize date, month indicator and rotor with variable geometry.

A Richard Mille watch is a highly tuned machine, and as such, it needs the right maintenance and care to ensure a long life of worry-free functioning. The Richard Mille watch is an intricate and complex mechanical device that was developed and built using the most cutting-edge watchmaking methods and resources available. Master watchmakers put it together and optimised it. Given how few watchmakers worldwide are capable of servicing such a wristwatch, it is very astounding that Ghana has it own watchmaker capable of servicing high-end timepieces.

Patrick Amofah, set up the brand 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" emphasizes 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 super 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.

Mr. Amofah recalled, " Not until I was involved in the art of watchmaking,

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.

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, arguably the best Swiss Standard Watch Repair Company in Ghana, as a full-time business, but because of COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions, he operated it as an e-commerce site, restoring watches and selling well-known branded watches until 2021, when he met clients face to face.

The company has been able to help more timepiece lovers keep most of their luxurious watches in pristine condition and has provided watch repair solutions to a substantial number of individuals, institutions, and organizations in different part of Africa and other European countries.

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. We now have a team of 10, 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.

The company repairs all types of watch 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 Watch Co. is the go-to brand when searching for a credible watchmaker to take care of your luxury timepiece. The company sells custom-made straps in different sizes, colours, and leather types.