During the early 20th century, strides were made across the Western world to develop domestic clocks that would operate on battery power.
On the eve of the First World War, two Frenchmen, Maurice Favre-Bulle and Marcel Andre-Moulin, joined forces to develop the Bulle electric clock. From 1920, the year it was patented, to 1952, it is estimated that around 300,000 clocks were produced.