Once upon a time, I worked for a small insurance company. On more than one occasion, some unscrupulous agent forged the signature of the company’s owner “authorizing” them to sell products that they had no permission to sell. The saving grace is that the signature they used looked nothing like the owner’s signature (and I believe one of them even spelled his name wrong). Regardless, it was an annoying situation to be in.

Admittedly, it made me a bit paranoid about my own signature ever since I started running my own businesses. A few years back, I learned that one of the quickest and easiest ways to ensure valid signatures is to use a fountain pen. Not just that, but pick a particular shade/manufacturer of ink and stick with it. No matter what you sign, use that pen and ink for it. Also, never let anyone else use your pen. Ever.

The reason is, fountain pen nibs flex. As you write with them, they eventually warp to match your particular writing style. After a couple of weeks, the lines your pen makes will be specific to you and only you. That means that even if someone finds out the exact model of pen you use and the kind of ink, the signature they create will be different enough from your own that a QDE expert will be able to quickly determine the difference.

Granted, it usually would never get to that point. In most cases, they’re just going to use whatever pen is readily available to them and they’ll just write your name in a way that looks different from their own signature (or they’ll download it somehow and Photoshop it on).

Still, the mere act of using a unique ink would be enough to quickly show it isn’t your signature.

Which reminds me: if you let someone borrow your pen, even just to write down a phone number, it’ll be a couple of days before it shapes back. If you’ve gotten used to the pen, you can actually feel the difference. You will know if someone borrowed your pen without asking.

So what does all this mean? Well, I started using and collecting fountain pens a couple years back.

Notice when I described their use, I said “quick” and “easy”. As the saying goes, if it’s quick and easy, it won’t be cheap. Granted, getting started is cheap. A good, Pilot brand fountain pen is around $20. Once you get used to using the pen, however, you’re going to hate using anything else. Then you’re going start wanting to play with different nib sizes. Then you’re going to start getting picky about the type of paper you use. It’s a downward spiral but it’s a fun one.