When we received an invitation to an intimate conversation with ceramicist Sara Flynn at TEKLA Marylebone, we RSVP’d almost immediately.

At AJOSEPO, we have long admired TEKLA. For those unfamiliar, the Danish homeware brand was founded in 2017 with a desire to bring modernity, restraint, and freedom of expression into the homeware space. But in simpler terms: TEKLA is just incredibly cool. The kind of brand that creates pieces designed not only to look beautiful, but to genuinely last.

We say this from experience. We purchased several TEKLA pieces for our East London studio over two years ago, and they still look almost entirely untouched by time. There is a certain quiet confidence to the brand — understated, architectural, intentional — that deeply resonates with us at AJOSEPO. In many ways, their approach mirrors what we strive to do with our jewellery: creating timeless pieces that feel elevated yet deeply lived-in.

As for Sara Flynn, we were admittedly unfamiliar with her work prior to the evening. But by the end of the conversation, we left completely captivated by both her artistry and her philosophy.

For context, Flynn is a ceramicist with over 25 years of experience, having first discovered her affinity for porcelain while studying at Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork. Her practice is rooted in refinement, repetition, and an extraordinary understanding of clay. Through years of experimentation, she has developed sculptural forms that feel simultaneously delicate and powerful. Her work has deservedly received international recognition. She was shortlisted for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2016 and has held positions on the prize’s expert panel. Her pieces are also housed in major collections, including Chatsworth House, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Museum of Ireland.

So, the TEKLA x  Sara Flynn collaboration itself feels deeply considered. The collection features three porcelain candle vessels finished in distinct glazes developed by Flynn herself. Each one balances texture and tone beautifully — absorbing and reflecting candlelight in a way that feels almost sculptural. Interestingly, this project also marked the first time Flynn translated one of her singular studio forms into a repeatable functional object for wider production.

Achieving that required close collaboration with Tekla and their production partners: a family-run porcelain factory in Portugal specialising in slip casting. Throughout the discussion, what became clear was how intentional every detail of the process had been — from shape to glaze to finish.

And honestly, that was perhaps the most inspiring part of the evening.
Flynn openly discussed how careful she has been about commercial collaborations throughout her career, and how important it was that, if she were to step into that world, she would do so with the right brand. For her, TEKLA represented alignment — in taste, in sustainability, in philosophy, and in craftsmanship.

That deeply resonated with us at AJOSEPO. Particularly because we understand intimately what it means to obsess over details and continue refining until something feels right. Flynn also shared that throughout the production process, the TEKLA team remained incredibly accommodating to last-minute refinements and adjustments to ensure the vessels reached the exact standard she envisioned. That pursuit of perfection — even at the final stage — felt incredibly familiar to us.

Another detail we loved? Flynn revealed that, while she personally preferred the white vessel aesthetically, she actually favoured the scent of the black candle.
As for us, we completely fell for the black Vasta candle. The scent itself is smoky, sensual, and layered with fresh wood notes, but when paired with the deep black porcelain vessel, it becomes even more atmospheric — particularly in warm, low light. It feels less like a candle and more like an object you want to build a room around.
We also loved the thoughtfulness behind its production journey: designed in Cork, crafted in Portugal, and hand-poured in France. A genuinely European collaboration rooted in craftsmanship rather than speed.

So much so that we left with one ourselves.