Collector Spotlight: Yi Sun
1) How many years have you been collecting and what started your passion?
Minerals have been part of my life for almost 18 years. My first encounter with them was 2003 in primary school, when a classmate brought a `gold nugget´ to show off – a nicely crystallized pyrite. I have never seen anything like it and subsequently bothered my friend with countless questions about it, so he invited me over to see his collection and even gave me a tiny dioptase fragment as a gift. This confirmed my decision to start my own collection, and I wished for a mineral book at my 9th birthday to learn about the subject. The first years I only dealt with minerals on a theoretical basis due to a lack of localities and rock shops nearby. Instead of actual collecting, I looked for mineral books at the local libraries and compiled useful information into my own manuscripts to prepare for the day, on which I can finally go digging or buying them myself. To support the new hobby, my parents would take me to museums which have minerals on display – it was great to finally see the minerals I only knew from books before in person.
Around 2006, I found an advertisement for a local mineral show by accident. It was a tremendous experience to see so many rocks at once, however, I also realized that people didn't take me seriously as a collector due to my age and quiet nature. A dealer busted out in laughter when I inquired about pyrargyrite, asking me if such a little kid shouldn't be more interested in `glittery-glimmery amethyst´, and another collector recommended me to grow up first before trying to join a club. My parents were offended by these responses and agreed for the first time to take me to the field, so I can collect my own specimens and `show those arrogant folks´. In the Christmas leisure 2007 we drove into the Black Forest equipped with the most primitive tools imaginable (a piece of bark as shovel and a quartzite pebble as rock hammer) and dug out a few crystals, which I identified as zeunerite, azurite and baryte, from the snow-covered mine tailings. The next year, I brought them to the show and showed them to the collector operating the identification stand, who was at that time chairman of the local rock club. Impressed by the samples and their correct identification, he invited me to the next club meeting – and the rest is history.
2) What's the focus of your collection and has that changed through time? Why?
At first, I was mostly drawn to gem minerals and native gold due to their spectacular looks. Their exorbitant cost, however, made collecting prohibitive, so this interest died down quickly. Learning mostly through old books and museum displays, classic European (specifically German) localities soon became my core interest, particularly historical metal mining districts such as the Ore Mountains, Cornwall, or Harz. I love the rich history connected with these places, and that information about the historical finds have been published in books and other resources over time, so everyone has the chance to learn about them – unlike new discoveries, where the background is often deliberately shrouded in mystery and only open to few initiated `insiders´ with the right contacts.
Another focus that manifested early on are world-wide rare species and `mineralogical oddities´. Scientific curiosity about which sort of materials naturally occur under which geological conditions has always been a main driver to learn about and accumulate minerals. I also love samples demonstrating certain mineralogical phenomena, such as pseudomorphs, epitaxy, unusual mineral associations, or twins. The famous Blaubleierz (galena pseudomorph after pyromorphite) for instance is an evidence of oxygen fugacity changes within an oxidation zone towards more reduced conditions by the influence of sulfide-rich thermal waters – fascinating!
While my core interests did not change much over time, there are some changes in my overall collecting style. Until 2013, I maintained a systematic collection of reference-grade micromounts, as they offer the opportunity to gather a wide variety of species even with a very limited student´s budget. This became unsatisfying over time, however, mainly due to constant issues with specimen identification. Countless times I happily bought or swapped a rare species, only to find out later that it only exists on the label. As reference-grade specimens (often brown smears, or dust grains in gelatin capsules) don´t offer much value aside from their mineral contents, I had to throw these specimens away. The disappointment left me terrified about acquiring new material, and thus I stopped collecting for a few years. Since 2020 I actively collect minerals again and while I still focus on rare and classic minerals, I now try to obtain samples that fit my aesthetics, or that I find otherwise charming (e.g. less aesthetic specimens with nice antique labels and provenance). Selecting specimens based on their individual qualities really helps to build a more personal collection reflecting ones aesthetic taste and preferences, and even if a sample turns out to be misidentified, it wouldn't be a complete loss as it would still maintain its decorative value.
3) What do you like to do outside of mineral collecting? (hobbies, job, music taste, etc).
Currently I am doing geology-related research on the fields of Magmatic Petrology and Geochronology. In my free time I enjoy preparing Chinese food and searching for new recipes to try. I also like to do art, mostly pencil sketches and digital drawings. Another interest of mine is practicing classical guitar. I mostly play solo works from the Baroque, Classical or Late Romantic era and from various composers including J.S. Bach, Fernando Sor and Agustin Barrios Mangoré.
4) Have you been to any shows? If so, what's your favorite part of them? If not, are there any particular ones you would want to experience one day?
I´m a regular visitor of some local shows (e.g., Fellbach, Walldorf), and I have been to the international shows in Sainte Marie-aux-Mines and Munich a few times. Looking through all the displays and flats hunting for rarities and sleepers gives me a thrill almost comparable to field collecting. Also, it is great to catch up with friends you otherwise seldom see, and spend time together talking about rocks. The Tucson show would be an experience that every collector should make at least once, but as a Europe-based university student it makes little sense to try it now, as the journey itself would consume most of my budget. It would be torture to look at all the magnificent pieces up for a grab, without being able to take any home lol.
5) Are you a stay-at-home collector or do you collect on the field too?
I look for specimens at every possible occasion and source without bias, so I own both field-collected and bought specimens. There were many memorable trips I participated in, either with my family, or, more commonly, with friends from our local rock club. I have dug for minerals in a Bronze age mine tailing, in the garden of Heidelberg castle (much to the bewilderment of the tourists…), underground in an old silver mine, and even on an active volcano. Although most finds can´t hold up against the commercial stuff, I still highly recommend going on the field. You learn so much by seeing the lithologies in person, and it is great fun to look for minerals with friends and having a beer (or more) afterwards. Besides, nothing makes you appreciate your bought specimens more than the experience of spending painful hours digging at the locality yourself without finding a single crumb.
6) Describe your dream/ideal/perfect specimen (even if it's not real, go wild!) and tell us what the locality would be!
An ideal specimen for my taste would be a miniature of an uncommon/rare mineral in a quality considered world-class for the species. It would be from a historic find at a classic or really obscure locality somewhere in Germany. Ideally, it would also be accompanied by a nice hand-written label with provenance. Imagine, for instance, 1 cm large schachnerite crystals, one group even showing V-shaped twinning, perched on a piece of cinnabar-stained rhyolite matrix from Moschellandsberg with an antique label from the 1860-ies. Or cm-sized, dark blue connellite veins running through a palm-sized chunk of cuprite ore from Helgoland island… That would be a delight!
7) How do you see the future of the mineral hobby?
Mineral collecting has come a long way – from a scientific hobby for the privileged classes used as a tool to master Natural Sciences in the past centuries, to a popular nature-related activity for the masses after World War II, and finally evolving towards the more artistic hobby that it is today, emancipating itself from its purely scientific roots. As aesthetics is a universal concept relatable by a much broader populace than hard materials science, `pretty rocks´ will continue to dominate the mainstream and help to open the hobby up to new target demographics.
The decline of scientific/systematic mineral collecting that I noticed in the past years, at least in my personal circle, is ironically to be attributed to the recent advancements made by mineralogy. More precise mineral definitions and a flood of new minerals, many of which are not optically distinguishable, made analytical confirmation necessary for most specimens – and not all collectors have the resources or interest performing PhD-worthy studies for each rock in the collection. In the long term, however, I can see `traditional´ mineral collecting gaining more traction again. Not everyone can or wants to afford the ever-increasing prices for highly aesthetic pieces, and cheaper analytical services available in the future might also fuel new interest in the more scientific side of mineral collecting.