Museum piece
The open Bulle movement and its brass components are visible beneath the floral glass dome. The light-coloured dial carries the characteristic double hour scale, with Arabic numerals from 1 to 12 and 13 to 24. The central opening keeps the mechanism part of the clock’s appearance. The dark, round wooden base provides a calm contrast.
Inside is an electromechanical Bulle magnetic pendulum movement. Electromagnetic impulses keep the pendulum moving, and its oscillation is transferred mechanically to the hands. The clock has no striking mechanism. Based on comparisons with neighbouring Bulle clocks, serial number 217939 is dated to approximately 1935.
This Bulle Clock was the first Bulle clock in our collection. The surviving photographs show it in its original condition before restoration; unfortunately, there are no photographs after restoration. The clock was sold to Germany.
Manufacturer
Boulogne-sur-Seine · Île-de-France · France
Bulle-Clock originated in the collaboration between clockmaker Maurice Favre-Bulle and physicist Marcel André-Moulin. Before the First World War, they developed a prototype of an electromagnetically driven pendulum clock. After André-Moulin's death, Favre-Bulle continued the work. In 1918, he filed a patent application jointly with André-Moulin's widow; the patent was granted in 1920. That same year, serial production began at the Compagnie Générale des Appareils Horo-Électriques. Production ceased during the Second World War and resumed in 1946. It ended after Favre-Bulle's death in 1954. An estimated 300,000 to 330,000 clocks were made in various case designs.