The “Iskra Eta” was the pride of Yugoslav and Slovenian design from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Having it on your desk at home or in the office was a symbol of prestige. With a rotary dial or a keypad, either way, most often in red, but also in black, white, purple, pink, yellow, and gray.
Designed by Davorin Savnik, the “Eta,” produced by “Iskra” from Kranj, had about five million units manufactured. However, due to weak patent protection, the model was copied by numerous global manufacturers, and it is believed that around 300 million such phones have been produced worldwide to date. In the “Iskra” business building in Kranj in 1986, 12 examples of “Eta” phone plagiarisms were exhibited. The “Eta 80” and “Eta 85” models are part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Design Museum in Stuttgart.
