5 top timepiece moments in September 2023: from Swatch and Seiko to Adam Levine’s modified Rolex Daytona, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung’s Bulgari in Venice and a Bruce Lee tribute

Sep 27 , 2023

Left to right: Blancpain and Swatch release a bioceramic Fifty Fathoms; Tony Leung wears the Bulgari Octo Finissimo at the 80th Venice Film Festival; Jaeger-LeCoultre adds a new design to the Calibre 101 line. Photos: Handout

Silver screen legend Tony Leung, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 80th Venice Film Festival, sported a Bulgari Octo Finissimo during a press conference at the event

Seiko honoured martial arts legend Bruce Lee for the 55th anniversary of its 5 Sports collection – the limited-edition watch has a bezel engraving containing a Jeet Kune Do maxim

High horology keeps ticking and making headlines with the arrival of autumn. Swatch Group sent the public into a frenzy with the new Blancpain x Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms. Celebrities ran wild with their watches too: Tony Leung sported the Bulgari Octo Finissimo at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Seiko dropped a 5 Sports piece honouring Bruce Lee, and Adam Levine spent millions to modify his Rolex Daytona almost beyond recognition.

Meanwhile in Switzerland, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Genève announced this year’s awards finalists while independent brands collaborated to give us stunning new pieces and designs.

Here are our top watch moments from September.

1. Swatch and Blancpain go bioceramic à la Moonswatch

Swatch honours the legendary Blancpain Fifty Fathoms with five models made from bioceramic material, powered by its Sistem51 mechanical movement and water resistant down to 91 metres. Photo: @blancpain1735/Instagram

This month, Swatch Group brought two of their darlings together in stunning fashion, fusing the seminal Blancpain Fifty Fathoms dive watch with Swatch’s Sistem51 mechanical movement to create the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms.

This year, Blancpain is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms dive watch. Photo: Handout

For many, this was an exciting follow up to the success of the the Swatch x Omega Moonswatch, the bioceramic take on the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch. This time, Swatch took a less familiar name, Blancpain, to hopefully bring the layman up to speed on the legendary dive watch that celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. So now the question is, which of Swatch Group’s brands and designs will get the reissue next time around?

2. Film and music icons celebrate high horology

Tony Leung sporting the Bulgari Octo Finissimo at a press conference at the 80th Venice Film Festival. Photo: Handout

Silver screen legend, long-time Wong Kar-wai collaborator and one-time Marvel supervillain Tony Leung was brought to tears as he became the first Hong Kong actor to win the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice Film Festival.

Though he was watchless when he took the stage for the iconic moment, he was later spotted wearing the octagonal Bulgari Octo Finissimo during a press conference. The all-grey watch is made out of titanium and is thin, light and stylish – a fitting piece from the Italian maison to wear at Venice’s celebration of film excellence.