Simon and Samuel Halpern, of 79 Stanley Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, (then Lancashire) were both born in Russia, (Simon in 1865, and Samuel in 1873), the brothers arrived in England as young boys with their father and mother (Jonahs and Anna), before the family settled in North Manchester, c1876. Eventually, and with the help and support of the large former Russian community that resided in Manchester at the time, the brothers (who became qualified watchmakers, silversmiths, and goldsmiths), were able to set-up their own prestige watchmaking and jewellery business from c1889, becoming widely well-known and respected in the region, as they undertook and developed their operations in the high-end of the market.
Simon passed away on 17 August 1916, at 29 Heywood Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, Samuel in the following year, also in Manchester, yet their prospering business, (by then a sole and large jewellery retailer), remained in good hands into at least the late 1970’s, being run and managed by joint family generations of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.