An 'electric clock' is a
clock that is powered by
electricity, as opposed to a mechanical clock which is powered by a hanging weight or a
mainspring. The term is often applied to the electrically powered mechanical clocks that were used before
quartz clocks were introduced in the 1980s. The first experimental electric clocks were constructed around 1840, but they were not widely manufactured until mains
electric power became available in the 1890s. In the 1930s the synchronous electric clock replaced mechanical clocks as the most widely used type of clock.