[en] We report on the origin of the excitonic luminescence in quantum wells. This study is carried out by time-resolved photoluminescence experiments performed on a very high-quality InGaAs quantum well sample in which the photoluminescence contributions at the energy of the exciton and at the band edge can be clearly separated and traced over a broad range of times and densities. This allows us to compare the two conflicting theoretical approaches to the question of the origin of the excitonic luminescence in quantum wells: the model of the exciton population and the model of the Coulomb correlated plasma. We measure the exciton formation time and we show the fast exciton formation and its dependence with carrier density. We are also able to give the boundaries of the Mott transition in our system, and to show the absence of observable renormalization of the gap below the onset of this transition. We detail the characteristics of the trion formation and evidence the possible formation of both positive and negative trions in the absence of any resident free carrier populations