A second time zone is handy. A dial that makes you want to check the time is arguably more important. Orient’s Kamasu GMT offers both, and the orange version has our attention before the $495 price enters the conversation.

That sunburst face is properly orange: warm, metallic and impossible to mistake for another safe black-dial sports watch. The black-and-gray bezel gives it a little restraint, while the yellow-tipped GMT hand adds another hit of color. We’d wear it with a faded navy sweatshirt and let the watch supply the enthusiasm.

The Timex x The James Brand Automatic GMT made a similar case for giving a travel watch some color with its emerald dial. Orient’s take just turns the volume up.

The bezel earns its keep

The extra hand makes one circuit of the dial every 24 hours. Rotate the numbered bezel to the appropriate offset, and you can read a second time zone against it while the ordinary hands show local time. Useful for calling home from a trip—or remembering whether a colleague on the other coast has had breakfast yet.

There’s an old-school wrinkle here. The GMT hand moves in step with the regular hour hand; you cannot set it independently. The bezel does the work of displaying that second zone. Nor is there a separately jumping local-hour hand to reset when you land somewhere new. Frequent flyers may want that convenience, but for keeping another city’s time in view, this arrangement is straightforward enough.

Behind the dial is Orient’s own F6P22 automatic movement, with hand-winding, a seconds-stop function for setting the time and approximately 40 hours of power reserve. Leave it off all weekend and you’ll probably be resetting it on Monday. That’s a fairer expectation than treating it as a watch you can forget in a drawer.

Plenty of watch for the money

Sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown and 200-meter water resistance make a persuasive supporting cast. The steel bracelet gets solid end links and a folding safety clasp. There’s a date window at three, too, without a separate day display crowding the dial.

The dimensions deserve a look before ordering: 42.8mm across, 49.5mm from lug to lug and 13.4mm thick. This is a substantial sports watch, not a discreet little dress piece. We like the broad shoulders with this color scheme, though smaller wrists may find the footprint generous.

Black, green and blue versions are also listed at $495. A blue-gradient limited edition, restricted to 4,000 pieces worldwide, costs $545. The orange model isn’t limited, which is welcome: liking a watch shouldn’t always come with a countdown.

At $495 through Orient’s US store, the Kamasu GMT offers enough substance to justify looking past the color. But the color is still the reason we’d choose it. There are plenty of occasions for quiet good taste. A bright orange sports watch makes a convincing argument for the rest of the week.

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