ILFORD glossy same as French "BRILLANT"?

[hiroh]

I have a box of 11x14in FB WT Glossy paper by ILFORD that I purchased in the US a few years ago. Now, I’m looking to buy a box of 5x7 for test strips, but I can’t find it on the French website I’m currently using to buy paper these days. They only have “Brillant,” and I’m wondering if it’s the same thing—perhaps just a different name for the European market? Or is it a completely different paper? They don’t seem to have Glossy at all but have nearly everything else.

 

[Pieter12]

Does it come in a brown box with a brown and pink label?

 

[hiroh]

Yes, very similar.

 

[Pieter12]

I think it is the same paper. I think they make that paper in just 2 finishes, glossy and semi-matte. And I don't think they wouldn't call the semi-matte "Brilliant." Plus the semi-matte has a brown and yellow label.

 

[hiroh]

They sell both semi-matt and brilliant. I thought Brillant was the equivalent of Glossy, but I just wanted to double-check before making a purchase.

 

[MattKing]

I would enquire by using the Contact tool on the IlfordPhoto website.
Here: https://www.ilfordphoto.com/contact-form/

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

"Brillant" is simply the French for "glossy", isn't it?

 

[hiroh]

"Brillant" is simply the French for "glossy", isn't it?

That's a great point! It takes some brainpower to figure out!

A quick question for those in Europe: I’m looking to buy another box of 11x14in ILFORD paper, but on this French website I’m using, the closest size I can find is 30x40cm for any ILFORD paper.

I’ve noticed they round the dimensions to metric, like 13x18cm for 5x7in, but 30x40cm seems too far off from 11x14in.

Is there a similar size available in the EU market, maybe something like 11x15in, or 30x40cm really is 11x14in paper?

Edit: Here’s the website I'm talking about. If posting links isn’t allowed, moderators, feel free to remove it.

 

[grain elevator]

11x14 is distinct from 30x40 cm ( 12x 16“) and not a very common size in continental Europea, but I don't think completely unavailable. I don't remember though where I bought mine, might have been direct from the UK, which was often cheapest before Brexit. I'd still price that option. And try fotoimpex and Nordfoto in Germany?

 

[koraks]

Is there a similar size available in the EU market, maybe something like 11x15in, or 30x40cm really is 11x14in paper?

No, 30x40cm is a standard (mainland) European paper size. The inch sizes are uncommon here; 8x10" is sold sometimes, but mostly you're looking at the metric sizes and they deviate for the most part, although they're indeed similar/identical for the smaller ones (10x15/4x6", 13x18/5x7").

I think your best bet if you really need 11x14" is to get it directly from the UK.

 

[hiroh]

11x14 is distinct from 30x40 cm ( 12x 16“) and not a very common size in continental Europea, but I don't think completely unavailable. I don't remember though where I bought mine, might have been direct from the UK, which was often cheapest before Brexit. I'd still price that option. And try fotoimpex and Nordfoto in Germany?

No, 30x40cm is a standard (mainland) European paper size. The inch sizes are uncommon here; 8x10" is sold sometimes, but mostly you're looking at the metric sizes and they deviate for the most part, although they're indeed similar/identical for the smaller ones (10x15/4x6", 13x18/5x7").

I think your best bet if you really need 11x14" is to get it directly from the UK.

Great, Fotoimpex has 11x14.

Even though I’m from Europe and grew up with the metric system, I’ve gotten so used to using inches for photography and printing. Almost everything I have—prints from the past decade, boxes and boxes of unused paper, print storage boxes, cutters, rulers, contact frames and all other tools, are in inches. Switching to metric now would just create a huge mess, so I’d rather stick with the American sizes.

Good to know I can find them in Europe.

 

[koraks]

Ah, great to hear that you found what you need at Impex/Adox! And yes, I understand that mixing systems would make a mess.

 

[Carnie Bob]

I am going back now , I believe Fred Picker unleashed Brilliant , it was made by a French paper house Gullimont &.......
It was graded paper and a lot of printers liked this paper.

I think though he switched it to Ilford Glossy after the french papermaker closed down, he did not admit this and I cannot say for certain
that this is indeed a fact , but the early Brilliant was much more crispier than the last years of Brilliant.

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

The paper in question is Brillant, not "Brilliant".

 

[Pieter12]

"Brillant" is simply the French for "glossy", isn't it?

Then why isn’t the rest of the label in French?

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

It's multilingual, including French.

 

[Pieter12]

It's multilingual, including French.

The part of the label that says Brillant is all in English.

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

The part of the label that says Brillant is all in English.

Look at the website referred to by the OP in post no. 8. It refers to "semi-mat", which is French for "semi-matte". The rest of the description is in what you take to be English..

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

La réponse est oui!

"Brillant" is the translation of "glossy" in French in the context of paper surfaces.

Another term you may find is "glacé".

 

[Pieter12]

Look at the website referred to by the OP in post no. 8. It refers to "semi-mat", which is French for "semi-matte". The rest of the description is in what you take to be English..

I hadn't clicked through to the website. But I don't "take" the rest to be English, it is English. I'm amazed the French didn't insist on Ilford translating "warmtone" or "multigrade."

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Here's the multilingual label on my box of Harman Glossy/Brilliant/etc.

 

[Pieter12]

Here's the multilingual label on my box of Harman Glossy/Brilliant/etc. View attachment 378536

Unfortunately, noe of that is not shown on the website. Leading to the OP's confusion of whether Brillant was the same as Glossy.

 

[MattKing]

Bolding and italicization added to highlight the spelling - and mis-spelling - that I missed in both cases.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Given the prominence of Brilliant as almost a brand label on the posted image of the box, there might be some kind of marketing psychology involved, and not merely a sheen identification. Hard to say. Let me explain :

The "Brilliant" name began with Brilliant Bromide graded paper made in France and marketed by Zone VI Studios in the US. It was an extraordinary paper.
But when Zone VI was bought out by Calumet, the Brilliant label passed on to them, but with respect to a quite inferior product made for them in England by Ilford. Subsequently Calumet itself went out of business.

In that manner the "Brilliant" name might have been inherited by Ilford. MGWT is itself a superb product, but variable contrast and no relation to the original French Brilliant paper. If MGWT had existed contemporaneously to the original, and they had applied that term, they probably would have been sued, at least if it was capitalized and printed bold. But now there's no kind of overlap capable of causing confusion. Here in the US it's simply been labeled, "glossy" (in small print). But I've thrown out all my old empty boxes, so can't check those.

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

Given the prominence of Brilliant as almost a brand label on the posted image of the box, there might be some kind of marketing psychology involved, and not merely a sheen identification. Hard to say. Let me explain :

The "Brilliant" name began with Brilliant Bromide graded paper made in France and marketed by Zone VI Studios in the US. It was an extraordinary paper.
But when Zone VI was bought out by Calumet, the Brilliant label passed on to them, but with respect to a quite inferior product made for them in England by Ilford. Subsequently Calumet itself went out of business.

In that manner the "Brilliant" name might have been inherited by Ilford. MGWT is itself a superb product, but variable contrast and no relation to the original French Brilliant paper. If MGWT had existed contemporaneously to the original, and they had applied that term, they probably would have been sued, at least if it was capitalized and printed bold. But now there's no kind of overlap capable of causing confusion. Here in the US it's simply been labeled, "glossy" (in small print). But I've thrown out all my old empty boxes, so can't check those.

That is interesting but beside the point, I'm afraid. The word on the Ilford box is "Brillant", not "Brilliant"; and as such it is purely a description of the surface (as distinct from, say "Semi-mat").

The Brilliant paper was exactly as you say, to begin with; but a couple of comments about Calumet. Firstly, their Brilliant range devolved into inkjet printing papers by around 2003; and, secondly, Calument didn't exactly go out of business, except in the US. Their UK business was bought by Aurelia and then merged with Wex: Calumet's shop here in Belfast is now Wex, with the same personnel still running it. I have a feeling that that Calumet paper could have been made in Switzerland, by the firm that made (makes?) "Ilford" Galerie inkjet paper.