OK Hamilton fans, here's a very, very nice solid 14K Hamilton Norde (1949) I just picked up.
It contains an 18J Model 748 Movement.

Wow! What a beautiful case and dial.

CLD?

"CLD" eqals 'sealed". A few models illustrated on page 123 of the reprint of the Swigart book "llustrated manual of American watch movements" I think it refers to the sealing manner of the case, these usually have solid backs, the movement is removed from the front after taking off the bezel. The stem is one of those two-piece horrors that are difficult to get together; the dial gets in the way of seeing what one is doing. There may have been a gasket in the bezel to seal against the body of the case.

John,
I believe you are totally correct about the CLD term Here's what I found out
from another very knowledgeable source of mine:

" About the "cld", here's something I found that supposedly explains it:
"The CLD is actually pronounced "sealed". It was Hamilton's cute way of
naming their waterproof/moisture resistant watch."

I've seen that cld on quite a few Hamiltons, but never really knew what
it meant. The above came from a Hamilton forum, and I guess the guy
knows what he's talking about ".

Below is an "excerpt" from a Hamilton (1949) catalog that gives a description of the "cld" exclusive case design principle.

Robert

Are the 748 movements marked to indicate they hairspring is Elinvar? I don't want to take one out of the case to see.