Skip to content
The Encyclopedia of Horology

Movement record · France

Bulle-Clock movement

Partially verified

Battery-electric clock in which the pendulum carries a coil moving over a fixed magnet

Technical specifications

Diameter
Clock movement; dimensions vary
Height
Not recorded in the sources consulted
Jewels
Unjewelled
Frequency
Pendulum regulated
Power reserve
Battery life rather than mainspring reserve
Winding
Battery electric
Setting
Hand set
Escapement
Electromagnetic impulse to a pendulum-carried coil
Balance
Pendulum with coil
Complications
Silent electric running

Identification features

  • Large horseshoe magnet and a coil on the pendulum

Known variants

  • Variants in case style and dial

Servicing notes

Cleaning, lubrication, mainspring and pivot work belong with a qualified watchmaker working from calibre-specific documentation. Conserve original parts: replacing a worn component with a modern substitute changes the object, and refinishing plates or dials destroys evidence.

General guidance only. Antique movements should be serviced by a qualified watchmaker.

Historical significance

A distinctive early electric clock design, collected today as much for its visible mechanism as for its timekeeping.

Diagram

escape wheelpallets and leveroscillator
Schematic: escapement arrangement. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
  2. Period trade material catalogues and calibre reference compilations (edition-dependent)
  3. Published manufacturer technical documentation where available

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.