What do a filmmaker, an architect and an Olympic swimmer all have in common? More than you might think, according to an insightful conversation held in Hong Kong recently, which brought together three of the city’s most prominent figures: Juno Mak, the director, writer and producer behind 2025 crime thriller Sons of the Neon Night; Betty Ng, the founder of architecture and design studio Collective and an adjunct associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Siobhan Haughey, a four-time Olympic medallist. Though their professions may differ on paper, their respective disciplines have all been shaped by, in one way or another, their relationship with time – documenting it, savouring it, and maybe even surrendering to it throughout the course of their daily lives.

Understanding time, as all three unanimously agreed at the fireside chat hosted jointly by Chanel and lifestyle magazine Monocle on April 30, is another story entirely. Though Mak, Ng and Haughey each described personal challenges unique to their journeys – from time spent pondering purpose and persistence while battling a bout of writer’s block, to time that races by during long hours doing laps in the pool – the trio shared similar sentiments about how precious, finite and underestimated time as a resource really is. “Time changes what you create,” Mak mused. Though we do our best to measure it by the minute, time continues to fascinate, confound and even elude us. “When I wrote at night, my stories were darker. Now I write in the day and the light changes everything.”

Each speaker also discussed learning to openly embrace the passage of time rather than trying to fight it – an ethos that very much embodies the spirit of Chanel’s J12 watches. Since launching in 2000, the J12 has embraced change with every iteration improving upon the last, boasting a unisex aesthetic that bridges everyday use and technical achievement effortlessly. It set a revolutionary new standard for using ceramics in luxury watches, combining scratch-resistance, sturdiness and a lightweight material all in one elegantly packaged timepiece – something quite tough that could withstand the elements, without feeling hard or heavy at all.

Exploring this idea of softness as strength and vice versa, Haughey discussed how going with the flow, embracing that flexibility, and simply doing her best when it comes to making the most of her time, have been key to her evolution as an athlete. “When I swim my best, I’m not thinking,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m completely calm – everything feels natural, like the water and I are moving together.”

Balancing the many competing forces at play in making a satisfying movie has been an overarching theme defining Mak’s career – not too different from the alchemy that goes into making the perfect timepiece. Describing time as both an enemy and muse of his creative process, the filmmaker deftly illustrated how using one’s time wisely is purely subjective; Sons of the Neon Night took him over 13 years to bring to life. “[Creativity is] a long conversation with yourself,” he said, adding that the perfect take feels like “time itself holding its breath”, making all the long hours spent worth it.