With the holiday season firmly in rear view but with Watches and Wonders to look forward to, February has been a lively month for the global watch community. From Jaeger-LeCoultre’s globetrotting activities and staggering releases from watchmakers around the world, to celebrities wearing luxury pieces at the Super Bowl and the Grammys, here are five of this month’s top timepiece moments. 1. Jaeger-LeCoultre reaches for the stars Perhaps the most busy watchmaker this month was Swiss house Jaeger-LeCoultre as the brand brought its Watches and Wonders 2022 exhibition “The Stellar Odyssey” to Dubai from February 4 to 23. It also released a collection of vintage, restored pieces as part of The Collectibles range just a week prior, at a time when pre-owned vintage watches are in high demand. The exhibition takes visitors on a visual journey through the history of timekeeping, from early efforts to track the stars, to the advent of clocks and on to pocket watches, and then wristwatches that can tell the time in multiple places at once. According to Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Catherine Rénier, Dubai is a top choice to host such a retrospective as “the ancient cultures of the Middle East played a seminal role in the origins of time measurement”. Jaeger Le-Coultre has also recently launched a series of restored vintage pieces in a series titled – appropriately – The Collectibles. The classic collection includes sporty variations through the ages of the Memovox, known for its alarms, such as the Memovox Parking; two versions of the Deep Sea; the Triple Calendar complication watch; and, of course, a vintage Reverso. Why the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso still rules after 90 years 2. Celebs show off their watches at the Grammys and Super Bowl A life lesson we watchheads learned this February was to never miss a chance to show off. As awards season closed this year with the Grammys , the most talented writers, instrumentalists and producers brought out their most prized timepieces. Trevor Noah made three watch changes while hosting the event and we also enjoyed seeing Kendrick Lamar pair a “Tiffany” blue Rolex Oyster Perpetual with turquoise-accented streetwear, almost as much as we did Jay-Z sporting the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime – the brand’s most complicated watch, with two independent dials, 20 different complications and a reversible case. Rihanna also dazzled horologically this month as she matched her signature all-red outfit during her Super Bowl LVII halftime performance with the Jacob & Co Brilliant Skeleton Northern Lights , which features a skeleton dial finished with translucent red crystal, and a gem-set bezel. Even brunches are occasions to bring your horological A-game, as rapper Lil Uzi Vert showed when he attended the 2023 Roc Nation Brunch wearing his Richard Mille 020 Manual Winding Tourbillon Pocket Watch. A statement piece among statement pieces, it brings a classic ancestor of the wristwatch into the modern day. 3. Watchmakers add new statement pieces to time-honoured collections Watchmakers are hitting the ground running this February in the run up to March’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva, releasing coveted new pieces in classic collections. Vacheron Constantin launched a new “Panda” version of its Overseas Chronograph that may just prove to be an instant classic, while Audemars Piguet added the Universelle to its Code 11.59 complication watch line. The model is notable for a ludicrous total of 23 complications, including a minimalist moonphase, a flyback chronograph and two types of “sonnerie” or alarm. In any other circumstance, each of these complications are intricate enough to warrant separate editions unto themselves. Inside Justin Bieber’s incredible watch collection, from Rolex to Cartier Meanwhile, Piaget has released an ultra-thin, luscious green edition of its Polo, with a perpetual calendar. Some may argue that its 8.65mm case thickness may not qualify as “ultra-thin” these days , especially when compared to the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra’s 2.23mm or even Piaget’s own Altiplano from 2018 at 4.3mm. The Polo perhaps comes closer to “extra-thin” territory, with Audemars Piguet launching a stunning starry-dialled Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin this month that comes in at 7mm in thickness. In terms of mechanics, Omega has somehow found a way to make its Speedmaster line even more precise with the new Super Racing. The renowned sports watch maker overhauled the mechanics of the Speedmaster to integrate the Spirate System, which includes a patent-pending spiral that “allows for ultrafine rate adjustments”. Beyond the technical mumbo-jumbo, just know this is as close as a mechanical watch is likely to get to the accuracy of a quartz movement, at most adding only two seconds a day. 4. Horological Avengers, assemble! Perhaps the most notable yet relatively unheralded announcement is the Art01 by independent maker Artime. While still under development – only renderings have been made available so far – the finished product promises to be as stellar as it comes in a square case with a skeleton dial, and is slated to cost CHF195,000 (US$211,000). Why luxury watch empire Swatch Group AG is hiking up its prices, like Rolex But the real intrigue lies in the masterminds behind its construction. According to media reports, the 42mm piece will feature a suspended tourbillon and is being designed by a true Avengers team within the watchmaking community, featuring personalities with decades of experience at such brands as Audemars Piguet, Greubel Forsey, Breguet, Tag Heuer and F.P. Journe. Movement designer Didier Bretin – whose name will appear on the watch – and complications figurehead Fabrice Deschanel both previously worked at Audemars Piguet and Greubel Forsey, while Claude Emmenegger is best known for designing the Royal Oak Concept. Rounding out the group are Manuel Thomas, Stéphane Maturel and Emmanuel Jutier. For now, Monochrome says only 20 of the limited edition pieces will be made, with a release date still to be confirmed. 5. Seiko drops anniversary models to mark 110 years since its first watch Seiko, the first name in Japanese watchmaking, is celebrating the 110th anniversary of its first wristwatch, the Laurel, with commemorative pieces across all its main collections and lines. The Seiko Presage Laurel Re-Edition was released in December 2022, adding a power reserve indicator to the original. Then the Seiko 5 Sports collection dropped its Ultraseven Double Anniversary Limited Edition, also marking 55 years of the sports watch line, in January. Since then, Seiko’s other lines have followed suit to wide acclaim. Grand Seiko has reimagined its unnamed first watch (affectionately dubbed “Grand Seiko First”) with an urushi dial with maki-e gold-painted hands and indices. Urushi is a lacquer technique specific to Japan using the sap of the Chinese lacquer tree and developed some 9,000 years ago. When it was introduced to Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was known for a time as “Japanning”. Why timepieces and pop art are a match made in luxury heaven King Seiko announced several watches to celebrate the 110th anniversary early in February. Most notable is a discreet 37mm stainless steel piece that features a brown gradient dial etched with the Japanese octagonal “Kikkoumon” pattern, reminiscent of a tortoise shell. The 1,200-piece limited run is now available at a price of EUR2,000 (around US$2,140). Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .