Epix gen 2 not pairing with ios17 / iphone15

I attempted to pair my Epix gen 2 various times with my new iPhone 15. I updated the application on the phone and attempted all trouble shooting advices. The app eventually prompts for a brief moment it found the Epix but then reports the pairing failed. 

Restarting the watch, hard-resetting the watch, turning on/off Bluethooth on the phone, re-starting the app - nothing worked. Epix will not pair on ios17/iphone15.

Any advices how to fix this :( ?