Apparently not everyone is feeling the bite of the recession. A European mogul has commissioned luxury Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin to create a one-of-a-kind $6.5 million timepiece that will instantly become one of the world's most expensive watches. The design, which may take years to complete, will be many times more precious than Vacheron's Tour de l'Ile timepiece (above) created for the company's 250th anniversary in 2005. Only seven examples of the Tour de l'Ile timepiece, billed as the "world's most complicated double-faced watch", were made for an astounding $1.5 million apiece. A few more commissions of this sort and the luxury watch industry will have nothing to worry about. [via Affluent Page]

So far most of the news I've heard about sports teams in this economy has been pretty positive. New stadiums are still being built and luxury suites are being filled. But Gary West writing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a piece that points out that sports are going through their own cost-cutting measures. Attendance is down at professional baseball games. The NCAA is curbing spending on postseason travel and the Grand Prix du Canada, the only Formula One race in North America is struggling to find funding. And layoffs have even come to the NBA which is cutting their work force by 9%. More than ever professional sports depend on revenue from advertising, sponsorships and naming rights but with many corporations in trouble those opportunities are drying up. As the Dallas Morning News reports the Cowboys have a new $1.1 billion stadium expected to be completed by next June and they are looking for a naming-rights deal that could be worth hundreds of millions. There are less and less companies now that would be interested in a deal of this magnitude. And Nascar, which has risen to be one of the most popular sports in the U.S. is really feeling the pinch. General Motors, Chrysler, Sears Holdings and Chevron will cut or drop sponsorships next season. Perhaps more than any other sport this economy has a dramatic effect because it takes so much money to compete. Dario Franchitti, the 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner, was forced out of the series by a lack of sponsors and teams from names like Petty, Waltrip and Earnhardt may enter 2009 with unfunded cars. Nascar may even have trouble filling up their 43-car fields because so many teams have had trouble finding sponsors. Certainly professional sports aren't going anywhere. Watching sports has always offered distraction and succor in tough times. Cheering for our teams lets us experience both joy and defeat in a way that doesn't impact our daily living. But in a time when companies are forced to cut back, sports teams, which are businesses too, will be forced to readjust. Some franchises may have to close. Teams that have relied on lucrative corporate suites deals may have to focus more on getting regular customers into seats.

Flamboyant soccer star David Beckham has a five-year deal with the L.A. Galaxy worth $250 million, so it makes sense that he travels in style even when picking up the kids from school. Still, he caused quite a scene the other day by showing up there in a $500,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe (above) with a phalanx of bodyguards trailing behind in two big black SUVs, the London Daily Mail reports. Beckham, the world's second highest paid athlete after Tiger Woods, had the top down for his trip to the school so everyone could recognize him, but put it up to foil paparazzi after retrieving his boys, the paper reports.

On Monday, a famous 800-year-old Belgian castle will be auctioned off by court order to the highest bidder, and it looks as if someone could snag a real bargain. The 13th century Corroy-le-Château located just south of Brussels and surrounded by a moat, was built by nobleman William of Brabant and remains one of Europe's most perfectly-preserved medieval strongholds. The current owners, descendants of Brabant's, have been fighting over the property for years and have now been ordered to sell it with a Monday deadline. The highest bid so far is for a measly $3 million, the International Herald Tribune reports, though it is probably worth ten times that much. However, if no other bidders come forward in time, the 16,000-sq.ft. fortress on 50+ acres will be sold for that amount.

Filed under: Handbags The upcoming 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are always a place to check out diamonds on display. Keep your eyes on the red carpet on September 21 to spot the Platinum Clutch, a new design by Cate Adair, costume designer for Desperate Housewives and Kwiat. The one-of-a-kind purse is valued at more than $500,000, and will debut at the Platinum Guild International Red Carpet Jewelry Preview, September 18-20, in Beverly Hills. The bag features genuine platinum design elements set with 60 carats of Kwiat diamonds, The bag will be on the arm of a celebrity on the red carpet and then on display at Kwiat's new store on Madison Avenue in New York. Not quite as pricey as the $1.9 million diamond bag but still pretty impressive.

It's been a bad time for mortgage companies and few know that better than Freddie Mac CFO Anthony Piszel. Piszel is having a real estate crisis of his own, the NY Post's Gimme Shelter column reports that he has put his luxury home in posh Easton, Maryland on the market. The home is a Georgian style brick mansion on 4.5 gated acres on Maxmore Creek. It includes guest quarters an inground heated pool with brick patio and detached 3 car garage. There are six bedrooms, six baths, formal dining and living rooms, a cherry-paneled den, game/media room and a kitchen that seems rather basic except for the impressively large range. It is listed at $4.975 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate. Gallery: Rigby's Lott  

Baume & Mercier has introduced three new beautiful William Baume watches in rose gold cases and gentlemanly gray guilloche dials with alligator straps. Each watch has a sapphire crystal and is water resistant to 30 meters.

• The William Baume Tourbillon has a 43mm case and uses the manual-wind WB-T002 movement with Tourbillon complication at the 9 o'clock position. It is a limited edition of 10 pieces.
• The William Baume Retrograde has a 41mm case and the movement is an automatic caliber LP3533 with big date and retrograde seconds complications. It is a limited edition of 178.
• The William Baume Ultraflat measures 41mm x 5.8mm and the manual-wind movement, caliber T001 is just 2mm in height.

[via Time Zone] Gallery: William Baume Watches

Looking at the creepy little silver faces on these King Scull Cufflinks by Tateossian makes me feel like giggling. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intent, considering they're scowling and all, but something about the looks on their faces and the way they're wearing their little crowns makes me feel bad for them, like maybe they're a pair of nerdy sculls trying too hard to be cool. They're made of sterling silver, goldtone, and cubic zirconia, and I can't even begin to guess what kind of suit or event these would belong best at. $250

Hommage, the Parisian purveyor of luxury grooming equipment, skincare and spa services for men, has created a limited edition, platinum-sheathed straight razor using the same ancient layering techniques as the Crusaders' swords, for $30,000. Called the Damascene Razor, the blade is hand-forged in Germany with 128 layers of legendary Damascene steel, with a rose and torsion pattern. The sheath is plated in pure platinum, treated to resist tarnishing. The razor comes in a lacquered gift box of Tanzanian anigré wood. The name Damascene is often attributed to the steel swords made in the vicinity of Damascus, Syria and first gained its mythical reputation during the medieval Crusades. According to Hommage, "the blade of a Damascus steel sword was said to be able to cut a piece of silk in half as it fell to the ground and was strong enough to cut through a rock without losing its sharpness." And now you can use it to get the world's most expensive shave.

The ultra-luxe Byblos hotel in St. Tropez is selling ten limited edition $150,000 wood and leather caskets containing an oversized bottle of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque champagne and a Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set. The casket, available from the hotel's exclusive club Les Caves du Roy, contains a Salmanazar of the vintage 1999 Belle Époque, which is 9 liters or the equivalent of 12 standard bottles. In addition to the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set, which is designed to resemble the Anemone, the flower that adorns the Belle Époque bottle, there are four hand-decorated champagne glasses in the casket, which was made to celebrate the Byblos' 41st anniversary. [via Elite Choice]