The Collier de Chien, or CDC, began as a dog collar. Sotheby's reports that Hermès introduced it in 1923 as a collar for a client's bulldog, and that Parisian women liked it so much they began wearing it as a belt. The use spread so widely that Hermès started making it officially as a women's accessory in 1927, and in 1949 the house launched bracelets in the same design.
The CDC is a leather strap with a central O-ring flanked by pyramid-shaped Medor studs, and an adjustable closure. The metal is usually palladium-plated, gold-plated or rose-gold-plated, with rarer finishes including black PVC, guilloché and permabrass. Leathers include Box, Epsom and Swift calfskin, and it is also made in crocodile, alligator, lizard and ostrich. Hermès has made limited editions such as the Shadow, Picnic and sterling silver versions.
The design has inspired other Hermès pieces, including the simpler Rivale bracelet, which keeps only two studs either side of the O-ring.