Enjoy Watches

Brand history & owner guide

The Hour Glass Limited

The Hour Glass resolves to The Hour Glass Limited, a Singapore-based specialist watch-retailing group, rather than a watch brand merely because it employs watchmakers. 123

This profile covers the maker’s identity, history and documented work. A complete model catalogue is being researched separately.

At a glance

Subject
Confirmed Horological Business 123

Formation and listing

The business was founded in 1979 by Henry Tay and Jannie Chan with Metro Holdings as the initial corporate partner. The company’s historical listing sequence was Sesdaq in 1988 and the Singapore main board in 1992. 45

Ownership and organization

The 2025 annual report’s 6 June top-shareholders table lists TYC Investment Pte Ltd with 340,291,669 shares, or 52.54%. The current investor page identifies Henry Tay as executive chairman and Michael Tay as group managing director.

The annual report locates the corporate office in Tong Building on Orchard Road, Singapore. The investor website presents an international retail network including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. 21

Venla Voutilainen’s exact connection

In a 2025 interview, Venla Voutilainen says she spent two years in Singapore working in The Hour Glass after-sales department. Venla’s account includes servicing different brands and exposure to retail and marketing; it does not credit her with founding or manufacturing The Hour Glass-branded watches.

Its relevance to the linked watchmaker is service experience and contact with multiple brands, a horological contribution distinct from manufacturing. 3

Who is The Hour Glass

The Hour Glass resolves to The Hour Glass Limited, a Singapore-based specialist watch-retailing group, rather than a watch brand merely because it employs watchmakers. 123

Ownership and continuity

The Hour Glass resolves to The Hour Glass Limited, a Singapore-based specialist watch-retailing group, rather than a watch brand merely because it employs watchmakers. 123

Watchmakers and designers linked to The Hour Glass Limited

These people have a sourced relationship to this brand in the Enjoy Watches register. The label beside each name states the relationship recorded; it should not be read as a broader employment or ownership claim.

Identification and service

For an individual watch, record the complete reference, serial, dial, case, and movement markings and compare them with dated primary documentation.

A brand history cannot authenticate, appraise, or establish the provenance of a particular watch.

Evidence and limits

How the claims are supported
  1. verified fact

    The Hour Glass resolves to The Hour Glass Limited, a Singapore-based specialist watch-retailing group, rather than a watch brand merely because it employs watchmakers.

  2. verified fact

    The business was founded in 1979 by Henry Tay and Jannie Chan with Metro Holdings as the initial corporate partner.

  3. verified fact

    The company’s historical listing sequence was Sesdaq in 1988 and the Singapore main board in 1992.

  4. verified fact

    The 2025 annual report’s 6 June top-shareholders table lists TYC Investment Pte Ltd with 340,291,669 shares, or 52.54%.

  5. verified fact

    The current investor page identifies Henry Tay as executive chairman and Michael Tay as group managing director.

  6. verified fact

    In a 2025 interview, Venla Voutilainen says she spent two years in Singapore working in The Hour Glass after-sales department.

  7. verified fact

    Venla’s account includes servicing different brands and exposure to retail and marketing; it does not credit her with founding or manufacturing The Hour Glass-branded watches.

  8. verified fact

    The annual report locates the corporate office in Tong Building on Orchard Road, Singapore.

  9. verified fact

    The investor website presents an international retail network including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

  10. verified fact

    Its relevance to the linked watchmaker is service experience and contact with multiple brands, a horological contribution distinct from manufacturing.

Known limits

  • This identity dossier is not a complete catalogue of every watch or reference.

Direct sources

  1. Investor RelationsThe Hour Glass Limited · corporate governance webpage · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: full_text. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.

  2. Annual Report 2025The Hour Glass Limited · annual report · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: pdf_text_and_selected_page_image. External source.

  3. Kari and Venla Voutilainen: a conversationEuropa Star · original interview · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: full_text. External source.

  4. Jannie ChanNational Library Board Singapore · institutional biography · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: indexed_text_only. External source.

  5. The unravelling of Hour Glass co-founder Jannie Chan’s fortunesThe Business Times · newspaper reporting · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: indexed_article_text. External source.

Corrections

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