Whenever we dip our horological toes into the “homage” question, lots of people feel many emotions and have loads of thoughts to share, both those which we want to hear and those which we would prefer not to. Whether or not homages should exist is, in fact, a wholly subjective matter. What you believe doesn't have to become my beliefs, and what I believe to be the right answer doesn’t have to become your reply. But we’re about to review an homage to a 1970s military diver which was originally produced by one legitimate brand. So we ought to dip, and even plunge, our toes into the question of homage watches and why they exist and how important they are for the watch community and legacy brands themselves. Watchout, I’m already sharing subjective opinions on this matter! Well, Mainspring is my platform and I think homages have a legitimate place to occupy in the horological landscape if you do bother to look beneath the rocks and under the carpet, and to question what brands want you to think.

Today’s protagonist is the namokiMODS NMK20 Type II Milspec (Type II for short), an homage to the Benrus Type 2 MIL-SPEC I reviewed last December which is itself a recreation of the Benrus of the same name manufactured between 1979 and 1980 following MIL-W-50717 for U.S. Special Forces operators. Or should we say an homage to it? Ah! Barely two paragraphs in and this article is already getting juicy and I promise I will go back to this in a short few sentences. What the namokiMODS Type II is at its core is a legible, capable, and attainable military-style diver which will set you back $321 American Pesos for which you get a luxury suite of specifications and impeccable manufacturing, finishing, and quality control. To the point of making the aforementioned Benrus Type II MIL-SPEC to shame in terms of value for this type of horological device which is another point I promise to get back to in a jiffy. For now, let’s dissect the namokiMODS Type II and see what this cool tool watch is made out of. 

Specifications 

Alright, I lied, we’re going to get straight into the first thorny question of whether or not the modern Benrus is itself an homage to the original Type 2. To wrap our head around this question we ought to dust off our history books and think about the question of historical brands brought back to life by someone or something. Many of the so-called micro and independent brands of today are recreations of old houses of watchmaking which went defunct during the ubiquitous Quartz Revolution (and not Crisis, let’s be positive for a change.) Nivada Grenchen, Timor, Vertex, and many others, closed their doors and became nil for several decades until someone or something (i.e. an investment group) bought the rights to their name, archives, and designs. That is what happened to Benrus—to make a long story short—as the Benrus of today isn’t connected to the Lazarus Brothers’ Benrus which, amongst many incredible watches, created the original Type 2 MIL-SPEC. The OG closed its doors in the 1970s and the rights to the brand were bought in the mid 2010s to create a new Benrus. 

Moreover, whenever we speak about homage watches we intrinsically tag to this conversation the notion that these watches are of lesser quality than the originals. That is globally speaking and exclusive of some of the darling brands of the 21st century such as Nivada Grenchen which do make high-quality timepieces. However, many of the brands which make homages are “microbrands” and make them en masse and on the cheap, and in this instance we often think about 1:1 AliExpress copies and more subtlety inspired watches made a bit everywhere but mostly in Asia still, but sold under various names around the globe. In short, homage watches are generally considered to be creatively lazy and/or of low quality compared to the originals even though the latter argument is a silly one to make as a 2025 $100 AliExpress special is better made than a 1970s original. The modern Benrus I reviewed last month is really well made but also retails for close to $2,000 USD at which price point the idea of “value” in watches loses steam in the argumentative department—at least it does to me. 

So the namokiMODS Type II retails for $321 USD and for this you get more than you need in terms of specs and quality: a delicately sand-blasted stainless steel case measuring 43.2mm in diameter, 49mm lug-to-lug, 14.8mm thick, and coming with a 20mm lug width—dimensions almost identical to the OG Type 2. On top there is a domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating. Inside a Seiko NH35A caliber beating at 3Hz and coming with 41 hours of power reserve.  A matte-black ceramic bezel insert mounted on a unidirectional, 120-click bezel endowed with a “bezel action” I had never experienced before—springy and jumpy but precise and with no backplay. Also a screw-down crown and case-back for a healthy 200 meters of water resistance, excellent applications of blue-glowing lume on the hands and printed hour markers (alas nothing on the bezel as it is a standard part namokiMODS uses for other models.) Lastly, a quality black seatbelt NATO-style nylon strap which works oh so well with the entire package. 

More importantly that the sum of its parts is the fact that everything on the Type II is impeccably manufactured and finished. 

Design

I won’t be able to tell you amazing and attention-grabbing tales about the design of the namokiMODS Type II as it is 100% inspired by the original Type 2 made by Benrus in the 1970s and as such, it follows a codified visual language. But again, namoki has done a superb job in its iteration of this iconic military diver and has taken a few subtle liberties which distinguishes it from the original model and from the plethora of homages. Notably, it played with the proportions of the dial where the hands are thinner and slightly longer than they were on the OG and on the new Benrus Type 2, whilst the numerals for the local time seem to be of the same width and in the same position. This small change doesn’t affect legibility and endows the namokiMODS with an extra dose of military charm. Similarly, this model also comes with a sublime monochromatic color scheme as the hands and all printed elements are white and contrast superbly against the matte black dial. On the original Type 2, the hands and hour markers had a yellow tint due to the radioactive compound they were made of. 

More specifically, the time-telling functionality of the Type II is ensured by pencil-style hour and minute hands made of a multipartite construction to make them more resistant to shocks. They are paired with a narrow seconds hand equipped with an arrow-shaped lumed element and are answered by the large and extremely legible Arabic numeral hour markers which come with a slight three-dimensionality on account of the generous applications of luminescent compound. Outside of them there are inward-facing lumed triangles further marking the hours and/our five-minute increments, and inside a 24-hour military scale typical of military timekeeping devices. And as a legitimate military tool watch should not have, there is no other markings or branding printed on the dial as the Type II existed and still exists today to be one of the most legible and easy-to-use military divers. The latter fact explains why a Type 2 was created after a Type 1, where the latter didn’t showcase any numerals on the dials but instead dots, batons, and triangles for the hour indices. 

namokiMODS also took a couple of design liberties when it comes to the case and borrowed one element from the original which today’s Benrus didn’t reintegrate into its Type 2: the sublimely angular lugs deprived of any chamfers which showcase a flat bottom and are perfectly molded into the continuation of the arched mid-case. (A design feature indeed present in the original Type 2.) Where namokiMODS differed a little bit however is in the design of the crown as it opted for a less-domed outer profile compared to the OG and new Benrus. But like the other two, the Type II had a grippy crown recessed within the natural crown-guards created by the protruding right case flank, and the simply yet superb case profile is complemented by a flat bezel wich pancakes down at its edges and is superbly easy to grab and operate. Each marking on the ceramic bezel insert is etched into the material and paint-filled for superlative daytime legibility. However, as we know, none of the bezel markings are lumed. 

The Heart of the Matter

There are three ways to look at the namokiMODS Type II Milspec, all of which are legitimate to me. First, and more simply, as a practical, reliable, legible, and robust tool watch and military diver which retails for the sensical price of $321 USD and for which you get the specs and legibility any decent utilitarian timekeeping device should have. Actually, what professional-grade ones should be endowed with if you were to ask me, in contrast to luxurious military watches made by you-know-who (Rolex!) Second, we can see the Type II as being as legitimate of an homage to the original Benrus Type from the 1970s as is the modern Benrus Type 2 I reviewed last month, in the controversial sense that the OG Benrus is no longer and that any brands which make Type 2’s are by default making homages, even though today’s Benrus (and there isn’t just one!) bought the rights to the name and designs. But here we could argue, should we have all the time in the world to do so, that only the original Lazarus Brothers’ Benrus made the original and most legitimate Type 2 and that is a timepiece which will never return. 

There is no third way to look at the namokiMODS in fact, I lied again, because this Type II is excellent and everything you need and should spend your money on for a proper military diver. As you might know, I believe that a good tool watch shouldn’t cost too much—ideally under $500 USD—and that is exactly where the price bracket inside of which this namokiMODS lives. And as mentioned above, it only retails for $321 USD which is little to pay for such high-quality tool watch as indeed, it is impeccably made, finished, and quality controlled and I would have a very difficult time justifying spending an extra $1,500 USD for the other one. And that’s the heart of the matter today folks. 

Conclusion

namokiMODS is a brand I’ve been aware for for many years, ever since I dreamed of owning a Seiko SKX013 after having missed the last batch of box-fresh units Seiko put out on the market before stopping the collection. (I’ve spent many moons mourning my bad decision.) Then a few months ago a friend of mine (@outriderwatches on Instagram) started posting stunning photos of his namokiMODS Type II Milspec just as I had received the modern Benrus Type 2 in for review. I was immediately smitten with the namokiMODS and of course I had no choice but to get hands-on with it for a review which I’m extremely happy I did. The namokiMODS Type II is every bit a military diver nerd’s dream as it does what it’s supposed to do with flying colors and won’t put you in a tricky financial situation by pulling the trigger on one. This is the best of what microbrand horology has to offer and you won’t regret adding that one to your collection.

Thanks for reading.