A one-of-a-kind version of Jacob & Co.‘s award-winning The World Is Yours timepiece sold for $140,000 in late May in England at the “Full Length & Fabulous” celebrity party of soccer champion David Beckham and wife Victoria’s Children’s Charity, to raise money for UNICEF and celebrate June’s World Cup Tournament. The white gold, five-time-zone watch features white diamond oceans and deep red ruby continents.

Swiss luxury brand Hublot‘s Big Bang was chosen as the official watch of the Swiss soccer team for the 2006 World Cup soccer championship, held in Germany and viewed on TV by over 1 billion people. Hublot created an exclusive Big Bang for the team (also available in a limited edition of 300), with the team’s white-on-red logo on the seconds subdial, a black resin side insert with the Swiss flag, and a back cover in red and white enamel, engraved by hand, with the team logo.

Swiss brand Maurice Lacroix and Swiss world men’s tennis champion Roger Federer have mutually agreed to end their collaboration, as of May. Federer had been the timepiece’s brand ambassador since June 2004.

Tissot in May was named the presenting sponsor of the June IndyCar Series race at “The Soul of American Road Racing” in Watkins Glen, N.Y. The partnership makes Tissot the official timekeeper and official watch and gives it prominent visual branding at the start/finish line. Tissot also announced the Danica Patrick T-Touch limited edition (500 pieces). Patrick, who was Rookie of the Year in the IRL Championship and the first female driver to lead the race at Indianapolis, became a Tissot brand ambassador in 2005.

Omega in May announced its partnership with SolarImpulse to develop innovative technology to fly a plane around the world powered only by solar energy. Swiss-made Omega, part of the Swatch Group, is the official watch of the NASA-manned space missions and the only watch ever worn on the moon.

TheIsola d’Elba Regatta has been renamed The Locman Cup – Isola d’Elba, effective with the 2006 edition, which was held in mid-July. The important regatta is the final stage of the World Match Racing Tour. Locman, the Italian upscale watch brand, is located on Elba island, off Italy’s coast. It has been a sponsor of the five-year-old event since it began.

Luxury watch brand Corum has signed a six-year sponsorship deal as the official timepiece of the World Series of Poker, the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. It will produce and market timepieces inspired by the WSOP brand, plus watches exclusively for WSOP champions. The first recipient was Mary Jones Meyer, of Henderson, Nev., who won $236,094 for her first-place finish in July in the 2006 Ladies World Poker Championship, which had 1,128 players. The Corum diamond-studded women’s wristwatch was presented to Meyer by Stacie Orloff, president of Corum USA.