Gold is a highly workable metal, perfect for jewellery making. Its rich glow and satisfying weight creates a luxurious, high-quality feel that suits precious jewellery. Alloying gold increases its tensile strength (the maximum stretching force a metal can withstand before breaking) and hardness. Alloyed gold is better at resisting scratching and denting, and lowers the melting point, and means a reduced cost for the consumer. Introducing other metals in gold alloys can also create customised colours. For example, more copper creates rose gold and adding nickel can whiten the gold.