Hourglasses can be used to increase the parent pokemon's breeding level. You can do this by right-clicking a pokemon that is currently in the daycare with any hourglass! Max breeding level is 5.
Copper: Increase a pokemon's breeding level by 1.
Silver: Increase a pokemon's breeding level by 2.
Gold: Increase a pokemon's breeding level by 3.
Diamond: Increase a pokemon's breeding level by 4.
Please note! The max breeding level a pokemon can achieve is 5. If you use a diamond hourglass on the same pokemon twice, it will be level 5 and you will lose both diamond hourglasses hence wasting 3 potential breeding levels.