Collector Spotlight: Leighton Werschky

How many years have you been collecting and what started your passion?

While I have been collecting minerals (and rocks and fossils and bones!) my whole life, I have been collecting much more seriously for the last four. I consider myself lucky to not only have been born into this hobby, but genuinely enjoy the lifestyle it entails. My Dad, Scott, was a gold exploration geologist who successfully made the transition to mineral dealing while I was very young, and so I was raised around minerals for as long as I can remember. He would come back from mineral collecting/buying trips to South America and hide bits and scraps across the hillside in our backyard, which we aptly named “Treasure Mountain”. We quickly learned that as soon as he was back, there was treasure to be found, and would sprint outside (with flashlights if needed) to be the first to search the hill. So the collection fever began! I accompanied Dad on collecting trips and to mineral shows throughout my childhood, and worked in the mineral lab on and off throughout schooling. Even so, minerals were often on the back burner, and it still took quite some time for me to fully commit to the lifestyle. After an extended hiatus (involving lots of skiing and multiple other seasonal jobs), I finished my geology degree at the University of Nevada. I was working full time for Dad at this point, and soon after I got my degree I accompanied him to my first Tucson show, which really ended up sealing the deal for me.

What's the focus of your collection and has that changed through time? Why?

At this point, my collection doesn’t necessarily have a specific focus other than aesthetics. I do understand and respect the ideas behind selecting a more specific genre, but at the same time I don’t want to feel locked into only ever looking at certain types of rocks to buy. There are so many wonderful minerals, and so many of them have multiple varieties, crystal forms and habits that I can see how it could be overwhelming to attempt to start a collection with no ideas about where to begin. I feel a good midway point would be to collect a few different suites of rocks, but my collection has not quite progressed to this point yet. My dream collection would have one good example of everything, but as we all know this is an extremely unrealistic and unachievable goal. As far as how my collection has changed, the only major difference is I have begun to be much more selective about pieces I buy. I used to buy anything that caught my eye, but have lately been holding back, doing fewer (and unfortunately bigger) purchases.

What do you like to do outside of mineral collecting? (hobbies, job, music taste, etc)

While minerals have been a huge part of my life for the last several years, I always find time for other activities. In the winter, I spend the vast majority of my time off skiing and playing in the mountains. I am very lucky to live close to a multitude of world class ski resorts, and when those aren’t open, the backcountry possibilities around Lake Tahoe are endless. When there’s no snow, I spend free time backpacking and camping all across my three favorite geologic provinces: the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau. I pay special attention to visiting hot springs, petroglyphs/pictographs, abandoned mines and other interesting geologic sites. Fortunately, Nevada is chalk full of all these things I love!

Are you a stay-at-home collector or do you collect on the field too?

While the majority of my core collection has been purchased at shows (with a couple from the web), I most definitely have done my share of field collecting! Living in the most mineralized state in the country certainly has its advantages. Approximately 80% of Nevada is public land, and as there’s no pesky vegetation to cover up the geology, there is no shortage of mineral collecting to be done. In addition to well known localities that are very close to home (anyone heard of a little place called Petersen Mountain??), there are free public collecting areas (Ely’s Garnet Hill??) and a plethora of abandoned mines and other mineral hotspots that can produce great rocks with a bit of effort and a good sense of adventure. My favorite field collecting story came while I was still very young. My dad, with all his geology friends in tow, took my siblings and I to Garnet Hill to collect almandine. After a full day of pounding on rocks, still no one had found anything amazing. It was the late afternoon and all the adults were sitting around drinking beer when I took it upon myself to start chiseling on an outcrop that the adults had been working on all day. My dad was quick to tell me there was little chance of finding something, but after only a few strikes a cavity opened up and I was rewarded with the best rock of the trip; a beautiful matrix specimen with two deep ruby red garnets perched on top. This experience really cemented in my mind the thrill of field collecting.

What is your favorite/dream specimen outside of your collection? Why?

While it may not exactly be my “dream specimen” (and maybe isn’t technically a mineral specimen at all📷) one piece that I have seen for several years at the shows that I keep being drawn back to is a native copper replaced mine timber from the ancient mines of Cyprus. The wood was dated to be around 2,500 years old, meaning the tree was cut and placed in the mines during the time of the Ancient Greeks. I have a love and fascination for mining history, and this piece is an awesome example of the bridge where mining artifact meets mineral specimen, showing how long humans have been mining the earth for its essential resources.

How do you see the future of the mineral hobby?

This is an interesting thing to think about, and seems especially relevant due to the current craziness we all are experiencing on this big blue marble we call home. In the past, mineral shows were THE place to see and buy new rocks. People would come together from all over to share and sell all the treasures they had acquired throughout the year. In the age of the internet, the dynamics of acquiring and selling/buying rocks has shifted dramatically. The World Wide Web really is the great equalizer. Where once dealers had to travel the globe, visiting remote countries and locations to get rocks that would then travel to Tucson or Munich to be sold, now people can spend 10 minutes searching the web and have countless options for purchasing, often straight from the source. Now we find ourselves in the age of Covid, where all large gatherings have been canceled for the foreseeable future. People are relying on the internet more and more to shop, and I have heard several people now question the necessity for continuing future mineral shows at all. I personally don’t believe this is a viable path. While it has been proven that people can successfully continue collecting through the web, I don’t believe there is any real substitute for the in-person aspect of the shows. Gathering everyone in the hobby into one city for a week (or four, thanks Tucson!) to celebrate everything mineral related is an undeniable joy, and anyone who has visited any of the big shows knows the excitement that they bring. The camaraderie, as well as the networking that happens at these shows just can’t be replicated online. I don’t believe human to human contact can or should ever be fully removed!

If you could give any advice to someone new to the hobby, what would it be?

Take your time, and learn the basics first! One thing I believe has helped immensely in my collecting is having a solid understanding of the geologic processes that must occur to form these minerals in the first place. While one could walk into a mineral show and shop purely on things that look nice, without an understanding of what you’re actually looking at there is a greater risk of overpaying, buying a fake, or buying something that might not appreciate in value as much. In my opinion, understanding the mineralogy has not only helped me make smart purchasing decisions, but made the entire process more enjoyable. Knowing the different mineral families, and the elements that make up these families, can really help one recognize the similarities and differences between them all, and connect the dots towards understanding the larger picture. I personally learned a lot of these things while I was at the university, however there is a wealth of knowledge online, and one could learn all the same information that would be taught in a mineralogy course right from your desk at home.