Toomas had served in the Russian Imperial Guard and retired in 1901 to open a music shop and publishing business.

[2] The cymbal-making aspect of the business expanded with the passing years, despite the disruption of several moves necessitated by war.

[3] The company opened a factory in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1917, where Toomas' son Michail M. Paiste decided to concentrate on cymbal production and export.

[3] In 1940, after the annexation of Estonia by the USSR, the family and the cymbal-making operation moved to Poland, where they continued under extremely difficult conditions, and in 1945 to Germany.

[3] The business was continued by Michail's sons, Robert and Toomas (born Kurt), with both the Swiss and German operations as the main manufacturing centres.